I know the world threatens to solidify your heart and turn this beating, pulsing, great big thing, into stone.
I know you’ve been hurt.
I know you’ve been discarded.
Put upon.
Abused,
Taken advantage of.
Hurt,
Betrayed.
Lied to—in the name of love.
I know you’ve loved
without anything in return.
I know you’ve given your heart away,
and have walked miles
to get it back
broken and bruised.
Here’s the thing:
We think of our hearts
as vulnerable and weak.
A tiny, beating pulsing thing
that leads us astray.
It makes us weep at tender moments
and fall madly off track in the wrong directions.
I know you’d rather discard your heart
and live in the sepia toned world.
Shelter and hide yourself
from its grand mess.
But, life is not life
without this beating fragrant thing.
Without it’s wishes
we merely dry up.
We become hardened
and weak.
We become fragile,
for the tiniest whims of the world threaten to break us.
We become the very thing
we’ve trying to run from.
No matter the pain,
you can still love.
No matter your past,
you can still love.
Even if that person you desperately want to love,
is the person reading this right now.
I ask of you.
Please,
keep your heart open.
Do not close.