Don’t let anybody steal your shine. I feel like the woman at the well. Do you ever feel like you’ve been dragged over a bed of nails, rolled in hot coals, and vomited out by a disgusting sea creature all at once? …

This is how to save a life. — Pain. It’s completely mind-consuming. At least that’s the case with excruciating pain, like childbirth, earaches, and toothaches. Those are just the examples that come to my head immediately, and there’s a reason for that. …

And how precious it is. — The thing about life (and this isn’t a political argument) is that it’s precious — all of it. Understanding that every single person is not precious to someone, and that’s one of the greatest tragedies of our existence, I still stand by my statement. …

I’ve actually never had a successful romantic relationship, so of course I know how to have one. — I’ve read the best way to get over a heartbreak is to just jump back in the game, but I’m not sure that’s true. Having tried just about every possible method of erasing a deep hurt from my heart, I would put getting into a new relationship as last on…

A poem written when a friend died from liver cancer. — photo by a divine On the last day of the year I went to tell a friend goodbye And he didn’t want to leave and I admit it made me cry But I said it anyway, held his hand, then walked out the door And it’s the first day of…

Society’s constructs, and how we are all victimized by them. — This is how it started for me. I put a little pink in my hair and the world went crazy. You’d think the sun fell out of the sky or something. Apparently, you can dye your hair black, brown, yellow, red or a combination of any of those, but you…

But don’t worry ‘bout me. — I’ll be fine. We all will. A little thing like a major hurricane ain’t enough to keep us down. Not forever anyway. Y’all keep on having your petty little wars about whoever is superior to whoever else. I get it. We all do. And while y’all are fighting, maybe take a minute to remember the entire nursing home full of PEOPLE who were left behind during…

What it really looks like — Loving God sounds easy, but don’t read this if you aren’t brave enough to face yourself. I always considered loving God from a selfish point of view. I love Him because of all He gives me, for blessing me with life, for sending Jesus to die for my sins. But to love Him just for being GOD is a lot more terrifying because it causes you to be morally just, but not at all socially acceptable.

A poem about life after childhood trauma. — Today I got a glimpse of me. The me that I swore could not return. I saw the part of myself that I said was dead and buried, Killed off by the destruction that was my life. And when I saw me, I knew who I was. I recognized the…