Gardener

People think that they can hate themselves into success

Think that they can despise what they are so much

That they’ll become something else

Remember

The gardener loves the flower,

But she also loves the seed

And the stem

And every slowly emerging leaf

She waters the plant

Long before any buds appear

Remember that you are a flower

And if you do not learn to love yourself as you grow

You will never grow

Into something you can learn to love