Upon Reading Sarah Kay

I like that she writes about the mountains within the mole hills;

how she tells of big awakenings and small deaths

in grocery store visits or quiet cross country flights home.

I like that her story becomes our story.

I never liked my story.

I love ours.

Indirectly, she put the pen in my hand.

Opened my heart and told me it was okay to write the songs of my soul.

These songs that don't sound pretty.

Songs that feature breaking glass and hearty midnight sobs

Songs of how I love, I live, I learn.

She taught me that these songs aren’t just meant to be hummed to myself

in the confines of my anxious spaces.

I worried that someone would hear,

that used to mean "QUIET DOWN"

but upon reading Sarah Kay’s own songs,

I’ve learned that a trembling chance of being heard really means "WRITE LOUDER".