CRY

You can cry.

No one will think less of you.

Tears are not weakness,

they are the body’s way of saying

I have carried too much,

and now I must let some of it go.

You can cry.

Even if it’s been years,

even if people tell you to move on.

Grief has no deadline,

and healing is not a straight line.

Let the ache find its voice.

You can cry.

When the day is too heavy

and you don’t know why.

Not every tear needs an explanation.

Sometimes sorrow comes uninvited,

and that is okay too.

You can cry.

And still be strong.

Strength is not in holding back the flood,

but in allowing yourself to feel

what you have tried so hard to hide.

You can cry.

Even if no one else understands.

Your pain is yours,

and it deserves space.

You don’t have to make it smaller

so others can be comfortable.

You can cry.

In the silence of your room,

in the shower,

into the pillow that knows your secrets.

Tears are prayers too,

and they reach where words cannot.

You can cry.

And after, you can rest.

You will not be emptied forever.

The body knows how to renew itself,

and even the heaviest storm

eventually clears.

You can cry.

And still laugh tomorrow.

Joy will come back to you,

softly, slowly,

like sunlight after rain.

Your tears will not erase it.

You can cry.

And still be loved.

There is nothing in your tears

that makes you less deserving,

less whole,

less worthy of gentle hands.

You can cry.

And while you do,

remember this:

nothing you feel

makes you unworthy of love.

Not then, not now, not ever.

RIA OLITA