I Hope You Remember: Poems on Loving, Longing, and Living

by Josie Balka

You’re grown up but still need your mom You always feeling like something’s wrong And lots is wrong, yes this is true But nothing, oh nothing, is wrong with you

You are the perfect amount for the right people Never too little or too much Just enough And on the days you are feeling like not enough They will fill the gaps for you And on the days you feel you are too much They will step back while you dance with your arms as wide as they can go And you will never feel embarrassed once you’re finished Because you will be met with a standing ovation every single time

You are perfectly you and the right people will make you feel exactly that While you in turn make them feel perfectly them

It will only ever be your surroundings that need to change It will never be you Because when you find your people You...

This is the first time you’ve ever lived this day So why are you so hard on you when you make a mistake? You’re doing it for the first time; such a brave thing to do And since you can’t tell the future, the whole thing is brand-new

The discomfort of being human never goes away

changing my body has never solved any of the problems in my head

And life is hard but life is good And as long as it’s both We’ll be okay

What if you just try it? Don’t commit to it Don’t let it become you Don’t tell everyone about it What if you just gave it a try? Trying is an endeavor An attempt A best shot Not a life sentence Or a vow Or a contractual obligation What if you try it And you hate it and it sucks And you never do it again? But what if you don’t try it And you wonder until this short life Doesn’t let you wonder anymore? Wondering is like the power going out forever

Just try it Keep it to yourself Do it with you And see how it goes

you should probably change that should to could. Because you can if you want, but you don’t have to. You can do whatever you want and be whoever you want without being bound by a list of invisible rules and the guilt that comes hand in hand with not following them.

You’ve got to learn to love yourself You have to

One day you will find the courage without the wine And the confidence without the reassurance And the love for yourself without the acceptance of others You will find peace in the middle of the day And a different unit of measurement that isn’t comparison One day you will find yourself and you won’t even be looking You will realize that you’ve been there all along Just a little out of sight And you will forget you were ever gone I promise