I met my younger self for coffee today.
Her hair was short again,
dark circles beneath her eyes.
She whispered,
"I never fit in."
"Insecure," she called herself,
so she took the scissors, once more.
I smiled at her, gently.
"You were never meant to fit in," I said.
"You don’t need to carve yourself into shapes
that were never yours to wear.
Put the scissors down.
Know yourself by the name He gave you.
Add color to your days,
let your laughter leave traces in photographs,
find fabrics that embrace you—
not places that confine you."
