This is how I love. I barter what I own and exchange it for your happiness, hoping it's enough to make you full.

The worst part about having mental health issues is that you're seemingly required to have a breakdown in order for people to understand how hard you were trying to hold yourself together.

...I was a child. I didn't need to be strong,
I needed to be safe.

I don't want to see stores looted or even buildings burn. But African Americans have been living in a burning building for many years, choking on the smoke as the flames burn closer and closer. Racism in America is like dust in the air. It seems invisible - even if you're choking on it -until you let the sun in. Then you see it's everywhere. As long as we keep shining that light, we have a chance of cleaning it wherever it lands. But we have to stay vigilant because it's always still in the air.

And with each tear
that crossed my face,
the person I once was
slowly washed away.