purplebuddhaproject:

“Not everyone is okay with living like an open wound. But the thing about open wounds is that, well, you aren’t ignoring it, you’re healing. The fresh air can get to it. It’s honest. You aren’t hiding who you are. You aren’t rotting. People can give you advice on how to heal without scarring badly.”

— Warsan Shire
(via purplebuddhaquotes)

I wanted to loose my gray hair out
upon my shoulders, to feel antlers grow
from bone, letting my own heart be pierced
until the soft pulse shivered in the skin. No.
The dog tore at the deer’s throat. And I watched it.
I was the human that could watch it. I was the small,
soul-colored thing that wouldn’t change.

Paisley Rekdal, from “A Small, Soul-Colored Thing,” Animal Eye
(via lifeinpoetry)