Poetry has taught me that I have a voice.

And that if I want to suffer in silence, that is my choice.

It has taught me that everyone is like a walking puzzle piece.

If we all speak up, we can be complete.

 

I used to have fear about all my sorrows.

I never wanted them to be secondhanded.

So my pain was hidden below the surface, and there I wallowed-

in my own disappointment

 

But when I found spoken word,

when I found power in a ballpoint pen

I found myself in the creases of every sheet of paper I've threw away.

I found hope and I was no longer afraid.

 

And I found diversity and outside sources in poetry-

that reminded me that the world is much bigger than my small town.

That all the pain I see around me doesn't mean it has to follow me around.

Now I know I can't run away from my problems, but I have a new perspective.

 

I can live in so many places in so many ways.

I can turn my luck like a journal's blank page.

It's magical how one descision and some motivation-

can impact your future and how you view living.

 

Poetry taught me, most of all, that there's hope.

There's another day tomorrow-

And I can write today's pain away-

Instead of drowning in my sorrow