I am soft.

Sensitivity is mistaken for weakness 

and yet it is the one true strength.

To care, to love, to cry.

I have fought my battles with tears in my eyes

But I won the war.

Standing tall with clear vision above 

a mass of people calling me frail.

Every emotion seeps into my heart

through pinholes and passages.

I feel what is meant to be felt-

Feelings aren't fated to stay trapped

behind bone white bars.

I show what others seek to cover

with stony expressions and the words:

"I'm fine,"

spilling heavily from their lips.

And for this I am called delicate.

I am nothing but a girl. 

Frills and glitter and emotion,

as if sadness is something only experienced

with two X chromosomes.

But I do not cower behind a steel demeanor

and puffed out chest.

I am a girl.

I am a human being. I feel.

And I will not apologize for something as human as shedding tears.

Life cannot be lived 

if heartbreak never swims 

through your bloodstream,

if happiness never lights a fire within your soul,

if you don't allow yourself to feel.

Muffle your emotions

and land the label "Robot."

Cold metal.

Inauthentic.

My tears and I are as real as it gets.