You don’t owe the world your pain.
It is not a debt,
nor evidence of your strength.

But if one day
you choose to offer it—
let it not be the wound on display,
but the warmth
that rose
through it.

Let it be the trace of light
you gathered in the dark,
the softness
you learned to cradle
in the silence.

Let it be a lantern—
not to retell the fire,
but to gently
guide another
home.