April 10, 2026
Elexis Johnson
Not leaving empty-handed
I walked away with pieces
Of myself I didn't know
Were still there
Small, stubborn, fragments
That didn't want to die
Even though i thought i would
I carried out the lessons
I learning the hard way,
the ones that carved themselves
into my ribs
and stayed there.
I showed the truth
I that tried to ignore,
the one that whispered
i deserved more
long before I believed it.
I walked out the softness
I thought I’d lost,
the tenderness that survived
every sharp edge
I pressed it against.
And most of all,
I walked out with the version of me
that refused to stay behind—
the one who kept reaching
for the light
even when the room
was full of shadows.
– E. J.