Forget the people who praise you,
when you are shining and glorious.

Remember the days
when you were lying hopelessly on the kitchen floor,
all rain-dampened clothes and bloody knuckles,
when the apathy filled your veins with ice.

Remember who stayed,
when every medal and plaque washed though the grates
like litter no one bothered to clean up.
Remember the hands that scrubbed away the bruises,

and held your calloused palms all too gently.
When death seemed like the sweetest escape,
remember who breathed hope into your lungs,
who kept your life like a promise.

And when strangers nail you on a pedestal,
hands holding hammers all too eager
to praise who you have become,
hold your life up like an award.

Thank everyone who saw you at your worst,
and didn't flinch away.
Thank the souls who believed in you
when you couldn't believe in yourself,

for they are the love
you wouldn't have lived without.