more

there will be people

who will tell you anything

to dull the flame within you

or suffocate the spark

behind your eyes.

they’ll tell you

you can’t

you shouldn’t

you won’t.

they’ll tell you that you’re too much

or not enough.

they’ll comment on the size of your emotional baggage

as they’re struggling to zip theirs closed

but what they don’t tell you is that

you are more than what fits within a zipper,

within the confines of

one continent

or one heart.

you are a fire

raging,

burning brightly

and unapologetically.

stop packing yourself up

to make room for others.

unzip,

you are more.