Don’t build a wall around yourself
Like everyone else
Imagining it as a defense
Against a hostile world
The true effect of such action
Is to imprison you
To lock in your tenderness
Beauty and vulnerability
Without those
Life will never be be full and sweet
The light will dim
And you will live in a kind of twilight
Of pretense

Tear down all the walls
Brick by brick
Be vulnerable and tender
Court your inner beauty
Grace and wonder
Love yourself
No matter what
Refuse to be defined
Or limited

Throw open the doors
And fly into the world
As your radiant self
No matter who you are
Or how broken you are.