The Light Waits in Your Emptiness

It is quiet enough now to hear the exhale you have been holding all day. When they called you strong, you did not correct them.

You let the label sit on your shoulders like armor, because if you are strong, you do not have to say how hollow you feel inside. But the night sees through the performance.

The darkness does not need your strength; it only needs your presence. There is a light within you that was there before the mask was forged, and it does not depend on your ability to hold everything together.

You do not have to bring forth a victory to be held tonight. You only have to admit that the well is dry.

The light is not afraid of your emptiness; it is waiting to fill the very places you are trying to hide.