I know the thousand ways
Life can break your heart.
The ways others can cut you
Without even noticing the wound.
How the struggle feels like too much.
And everything aches.
And there is no cure.
I know the drudgery of it.
The dailiness of the same,
and the same,
and the same.
And how every lovely and magical thing
Can seem to sit on a shelf just out of reach;
How the polish of happiness seems
Reserved only for other people.
I know how tired you are of trying,
And how exiting the game
Feels like the one and only life preserver
In the sea where you
are eternally drowning.
But stay.
Stay because
This very moment
Somewhere in the world
Someone is being startled
by the beauty of the sunrise.
Stay because somehow
Even in the dead of winter
The birds are singing if you listen,
And you deserve to hold
that rebellious music,
in the drum of your own ear.
Stay because a mother bear
Is sheltering her cubs
with the muscled wall
of her own body,
A reminder that somewhere
There is a warm strong place
Waiting to protect you from the storm.
Stay because a moment will come
When you least expect it, and
You will laugh uncontrollably
Until there are tears streaming down
And your face will ache from such smiling.
Stay.
There are people who will love you
who you haven’t even met yet.
And the ocean is waiting to once again
Crash into your body,
and carry you in her power.
Stay because down the street is a library
where the shelves are filled
with a thousand stories and adventures,
Treasure troves of words and wonders
Waiting for you to crack their covers.
Stay because life is a suitcase
Of beauty you haven’t opened yet.
Stay because there will be a night
When you are up until morning talking,
completely in awe of another human being
And you will hold hands, and touch lips,
and everything will feel possible.
Stay because you have only just begun
to discover all that the heart can hold.
Stay because your own body is a miracle
And your heart has beating left to do.
Your lungs were made for the subtle symphony
Of living, of inhale and exhale,
of receive and release.
Each breath, a gift.

Stay.
Your cells are a universe of stardust
and they still have their shimmer.
Stay because your life is still ripening.
Stay because the world needs
Your voice,
Your dance,
Your shine.
Stay.
The whole world is waiting for you.