Milk and Honey

by Rupi Kaur

i didn’t leave because i stopped loving you i left because the longer i stayed the less i loved myself

i don’t know what living a balanced life feels like when i am sad i don’t cry i pour when i am happy i don’t smile i glow when i am angry i don’t yell i burn

i will tell you about selfish people. even when they know they will hurt you they walk into your life to taste you because you are the type of being they don’t want to miss out on. you are too much shine to not be felt.

the idea that they were so engulfed by your existence they had to risk breaking it for the sake of knowing they weren’t the one missing out. your existence meant that little next to their curiosity of you.

one second they are holding you like the world in their lap and the next they have belittled you to a mere picture. a moment. something of the past. one second. they swallow you up and whisper they want to spend the rest of their life with you. but the moment they sense fear. they are already halfway out the door. without having the nerve to let you go with grace. as if the human heart means that little to them.

the way they leave tells you everything

you must enter a relationship with yourself before anyone else

loneliness is a sign you are in desperate need of yourself you are in the habit of co-depending on people to make up for what you think you lack who tricked you into believing another person was meant to complete you

do not look for healing at the feet of those who broke you

stay strong through your pain grow flowers from it you have helped me grow flowers out of mine so bloom beautifully dangerously loudly bloom softly however you need just bloom

it takes grace to remain kind in cruel situations

the next time he points out the hair on your legs is growing back remind that boy your body is not his home he is a guest warn him to never outstep his welcome again

i know it’s hard believe me i know it feels like tomorrow will never come and today will be the most difficult day to get through but i swear you will get through the hurt will pass as it always does if you give it time and let it so let it go slowly

removing all the hair off your body is okay if that’s what you want to do just as much as keeping all the hair on your body is okay if that’s what you want to do

the recreational use of this body is seen as beautiful while its nature is seen as ugly

you were a dragon long before he came around and said you could fly you will remain a dragon long after he’s left

how you love yourself is how you teach others to love you

you are your own soul mate

nothing even matters except love and human connection who you loved and how deeply you loved them how you touched the people around you and how much you gave them