Elisas Poem to Me

You don't have to make everybody happy.

Massage that idea with the tip of your tongue

against the back of your teeth

pinpoint what loosens

and where.

Keep going. 

You don't have to make everybody happy,

especially if doing so makes you miserable. 

It's ok to be a disappointment. 

most especially if being a disappointment

is a wriggle towards sunlight,

towards authenticity,

to freedom. 

What expands in your chest

when you think about it being ok 

to disappoint people who do not understand you?

Keep going. 

It's ok to be a disappointment.

It doesn’t make you a disappointment. 

It's fine that not everyone likes you,

loves you, wants to date you,

invest in you, or approve of you. 

Please stop trying to make them. 

Please stop trimming off pieces of yourself

to make yourself lovable.

You are already lovable.

You will always be imperfect. 

When you make mistakes,

you will lose some people because of them.

You are still lovable. 

This is called becoming wise.

What opens up your gut

when you think of yourself as inherently flawed and lovable?