Put the script down, the light is here

The house is quiet, but your mind is loud with a conversation that hasn't happened yet. You are rehearsing a casual greeting for the moment you run into them in public.

Practicing the tone. The smile.

The way to say 'hello' without falling apart. Tonight, the darkness feels like a stage where you perform being okay over and over again.

But the light does not need your performance. It does not need you to be casual.

It does not need you to be strong. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world long before you learned to hide.

You can stop rehearsing. The part of you that is tired is the part that is most real.

And the light is already there, sitting in the silence with you, waiting for you to put the script down. You do not have to be ready for the morning to be held tonight.