You have spent your entire life
Being hard on someone who can only be soft
In hopes that it will toughen them up.
How long will it take for you to notice that words can shatter not strengthen?
How long will it take you to notice that you are the only one in this world that is breaking me?
You have told me the ugliest things I have ever heard about myself yet you are supposed to be
the most loving.
Do not mistake your cruelty for kindness.
They do not go hand in hand.
I will not let you convince me other wise.
In my softness I have found power,
A strength much greater than cruelty.
To be jaded is to be weak.
Vulnerability is to be empowered.
I am like the rain, gentle, nourishing, but with the strength to shower, to flood, to drown.
My kindness is not a flaw, it’s a byproduct of understanding how cruel this world can be.
It is the result of knowing that the world doesn’t need any more ugliness.
My kindness is an act of nature, a force to be reckoned with.
It is my battle cry.
It is my lament.
It is my prayer for this world.
Kindness is not my weakness,
It is what makes me strong.
Anderson High School
12