The Art of Staying Tender poem

There is a softness in me

that the world once tried to silence,

yet it blooms anyway

Like wildflowers breaking through stone.

I hold this tenderness close,

letting it shape my days

with quiet courage

and unspoken strength

some nights it trembles,

some days it glows

but it never disappears -

it simply learns new ways to stand

And in its gentle persistence

I finally understand.

to remain tender in a harsh world

is a form of art on its own