My nightmares echo
Voices of loved ones buried:
They are gone but live
My nightmares echo
Voices of loved ones buried:
They are gone but live
I dreamt of past loves
As though they were still alive:
A flame still flickers
I woke up and breathed
That gentle first breath of life:
I am still alive
My grandmother once warned me, if I should ever take one puff of a cigarette I will be addicted forever. And so I never have. And I never will. Smoking repels me. I truly hate it.
And yet. There are other addictions she never told me about. Addictions I willingly seek, and cannot resist. Playing with fire, and getting burnt. Burning the flesh that has already been scarred.
Just like that first puff of a cigarette. It is the first line that is crossed. That has the power to draw and hook you in. Into a tangled, messy, uncomfortable, powerless web.
And at the end, all that is left, is the burnt ash of a once beautiful flesh.
Will you love me?
Can you try?
Will you hold me
When I cry?
Will you comfort
Will you care?
Love me, darling
Feel my prayer
xo
It is love that I am after
The pure, unadulterated, all-encompassing love
That accepts me as I am –
And for who I am.
I used to think that for me to change
My environment would need to change
But now I know
With my own changing self
My environment will automatically change

Be your own hero
In all you say and do
Have courage
And to yourself be true
Wait for no one
Or three or two
But stand in strength
And believe in you!
Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash