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.