Poem :: Permission

I’ve been writing daily poetry over at Patreon, and thought I’d share the poem from April 15.

You have permission to exist

you have it—

even when things are hard,

when people are in need

you get to be you.

You get to walk with your own particular gait

and eat the tomato off the vine,

stand and watch the birds,

be late sometimes,

have grumpy days as well as patient ones.

You can make things without wondering what anyone else will think about them

you can give as much as you like,

be as strong as you want, without feeling badly for being strong or good or smart

the same goes for weakness.

You can slam doors,

or sing sweetly,

play an instrument that makes your face look funny, forget things, or remember them.

You can say, “let me think about it.”

(Say it! Say it!)

Or, “that doesn’t work for me.”

You can dream. You can walk away from an argument and not hate yourself.

Because you,

you have permission to exist.

***