To the girl who lost part of herself
to a man
to a former best friend
to any sort of loved one

To the girl
who had the oxygen
stolen from her lungs

To the girl
who felt as though
her light has been dimmed

To the girl
who looks in the face of the person who hurt her
emotionally
verbally
physically
sexually
and feels the entire world stop
but feels every piece in her body working in double time
to try to cope with such resentment
to try to heal the scars
left in her mind
in her heart
and in her soul

Know that these people
who cause you such heartache
who cause you to cry yourself to sleep each night
or maybe not sleep at all
who cause to feel as though
you cannot love yourself anymore
will not have that hold on you forever

Because while all feels hopeless now
you will learn
to shine again

You were one of the brightest stars in the sky
and you will use this experience to learn
to burn the brighter than you ever did before
to burn
the brightest

You will learn
to love yourself more
than any one person has tried to convince you
that they love you

They may take that love
and the caring
and the restless nights where
open hearts intertwined and
souls began walking the same road together and just
the precious, precious time that you gave them
when they exit your life
but that is the only thing that they are able to take

They cannot take your beauty
your light
everything that makes you
exactly who you have become

Because, you will see that
you will find the beauty
that you found in other people
within yourself
and my dear,
that'll bring you such joy
such contentment
that you will feel like you can conquer the world
with the flash of your smile
or the bat of your eyelash

Take your time
in feeling the pain
in feeling all the negativity
it's part of life

But the moment you stop hurting
a follow the light within yourself
you'll look back
and wonder where this part of you was
all this time