I've been digging up poetry from decades ago. This one immortalizes another questionable choice I made, but I can look back and smile now. Because I've changed.

If you missed my last post, and enjoy angsty misadventures in poetry, check it out.

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^{Photo by Štefan Štefančík on Unsplash}

Shelter

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Did it weigh you down,
The effort it took to hold me?
Did I ask too much?
Demanding was not my intention.
Before I took the breath,
I hesitated to think
Of the words that were suddenly
Like foreign sounds to a child.

So rarely fragile,
I was vulnerable for you,
Stepping through worn limitations,
Shedding the shell from truth.
I only thought, perhaps,
You possessed the desire to know.
Perhaps the knowledge
Will become the desire.

So kind you are
To leave me clutching hope.
Kindness in your comfort
Like a shelter.

Original writing by Katrina Ariel.

I like this one because it compares kindness to a shelter.

It took me a long time to realize that being vulnerable doesn't mean being weak, but way back when I wrote this I thought I was a badass with a thick skin, when really I was just playing tough. I've always been over sensitive. But that's okay.

I might not be proud of all the choices I've made in my life, but I'm stronger now, and that's something to be grateful for. I'm pretty good at giving myself a hard time for past mishaps, so it's nice when I can look back and laugh, or read a poem and realize at least I made art from the pain.

We are not the mistakes we've made, but what we've overcome to get this far gives us depth, and perhaps a little humility as well.

Thanks for reading.

Whatever happens, keep singing your song!

Peace. @katrina-ariel

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Author bio: Katrina Ariel is an old-soul rebel, musician, tree-hugging yogini, and mama bear to twins. Author of Yoga for Dragon Riders (non-fiction) and Wild Horse Heart (romance), she's another free-spirit swimming in the ocean of life. Check out her music here: https://choon.co/artists/katrina-ariel/

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