stop asking if you are capable of being loved,
as if being loved had a prerequisite.
how many refuges must you run from
before you realize that you
are the safest place you can go?
you
can never leave
you.
you should have been your first love.
it is counterintuitive to think
that whatever causes a wound
can be the same thing which heals it.
so why do we believe this is possible in love?
why do we think that our breaker
can be our fixer?
for years,
we tried
breathing under water.
we tried
and tried
until the air gave up.
she said—
darling,
did you forget
that we age
like the sun—
backwards?
every tomorrow
we burn brighter
than our past.
do not allow
hard memories
to turn your
softness to stone.
be clay,
simply coming back
to the earth
for a while.
for a while,
remember them
as gently
as you can.
you have scars
from the wars
that came,
but also,
from the wars
that left.
the sun
does not race
the moon.
each
has its time.
each
has its place.
like we do.
fall back
into your
own arms
and stay.
stay.
maybe
this is the way
we forgive
ourselves.
if tomorrow these wings should fail me,
or i should fail these wings,
it is comforting to know
that somewhere, out there
waiting,
are newer, wiser
versions of me.
honey, see i told you.
everything will be okay in the morning,
and every morning after that.
yes, every morning after that
will break. and heal. like we do.
and honey, you make sure you love yourself
just as recklessly as they left you.
there are so many
other souls.
and yet,
we humans,
all ego, all dust,
obsess over the ones
that were never made
for us.
there are endings,
and there are beginnings,
and the two always meet.
breathe yourself in.
and love yourself out.
breathe yourself in.
and love yourself out.
breathe yourself in.
and love yourself out.
there is no cure
for that.
Della Hicks-Wilson is a British poet and writer of Caribbean descent from London, best known for her short viral poems and spoken word videos, which have garnered over a million likes and shares to date. Her bestselling debut collection Small Cures was originally self-published in 2020 and selected by Stylist magazine as a Best Summer Read of 2020. She holds a BA and MA in English from the University of Cambridge, close to where she resides.
Small Cures Page 3
