A crack in the armor,
That’s how it begins
As the rust breaks it down,
You hold it together
You don’t have to do it alone,
The whispers trickle though
But the thought of it terrifies you
The old scars haven’t fully healed;
Yet your hands still reach out,
Maybe this time it’ll be different,
Maybe this time I don’t have to hide.
Yet again you distance yourself,
Scared of what would happen if someone saw you,
The real you,
Not the facade you put up,
The mask you hide behind,
But the raw, vulnerable truth.
Then they came along;
Igniting something you thought you forgot,
And then the world begins to slip in,
Filtered through tears you thought
You weren’t allowed to cry.
Vulnerability isn’t the opposite of strength–
It’s the quiet courage
To open your hands
To let the weight fall away
To say, there I am, imperfect,
And still worthy of love.
And as the walls come down, revealing my naked self,
You will be there,
Ready to embrace whichever fragments remain:
The jagged edges,
The tender wounds,
The parts I once hid in shame.
And in your steady gaze,
I will find the courage
To stand unguarded,
To let the truth unfold,
Like the soft petals of a flower,
Finally reaching for the sun.
Author’s Note:
This piece was inspired by my personal struggle of self-dependence and learning how to rely on other people. I would always bottle things up, not tell anyone, and it was wrecking my emotional health. This piece explores the scary but healing process of letting someone in and realizing strength can come from connection, not just solitude.
Daniel Chiu | 15 | New Jersey, USA | @aenyu_dc on Instagram
