Dear you. Whoever you are, however you got here. This is exactly where you are supposed
to be. This moment has waited its whole life for you. This moment is your lover and you
are a soldier, come home baby. It’s over, you don’t need to suffer anymore.
Dear you, this moment is a surprise party. You are both hiding in the dark and walking
through the door, this moment is a hallelujah. This moment is your permission slip to finally
open that love letter you’ve been hiding from yourself. The one you wrote when you
were little, when you still danced like a sparkler at dusk. Do you remember the moment
you realized they were watching, when you became ashamed of how much light you were
holding, when you first learned how to un-love yourself?
Dear you, the word “today” means amen in every language. Today we made it. Today,
I’m gonna love you. Today, the box cutter will rust in the garbage. Today, the noose
will forget how to hold you. Today. Today.
Dear you- and I have always meant you- nothing would be the same if you did not exist. You,
who were once as small as a bouquet, who could sleep in the laps of strangers, nothing would
be the same if you did not exist. You, whose voice is someone’s favorite voice,
someone’s favorite face to wake up to, nothing would be the same if you did
not exist.
You, the teacher, the starter’s gun, the lantern in the night who offers not a way
home but the courage to travel farther into the dark. You, the lover, who worships the
taste of her body, who is the largest tree ring in his heart, who does not let fear ration
your love. You, the friend, the sacred chorus of “how can I help?” You, who have felt
more numb than holy, more cracked than mosaic, who has known the tiles of the bathroom by
heart, who has forgotten what makes you worth it.
You, the forgiven, the forgiver, who belongs right here in this moment. You, this clump
of cells. This happy explosion that happened to start breathing by the grace of whatever
is up there. You got here. You made it this whole way. Through the nights that swallowed
you whole, the mornings that arrived in pieces, the scabs, the gravel, the doubt, the hurt,
the hurt, the hurt is over, today. You made it. You made it. You made it. Here.