kintsugi

you always told me that you felt like misspelled words
like the sour taste of a cake made with
switched-up baking soda and baking powder,
and that you despised every time you tripped
because it felt like a failure to move forward

you whisper about your admiration
for people who look as perfect as smooth china 
who seem to do no wrong and trail stardust in their wake
they accomplish all that they set their minds to 
and they never stumble over their own feet,
or so you told me 

perhaps you do not realize that they are still like you
they are not flawless and they never have been and never will be
they might seem like statues on pedestals, marble and pristine
but they are just as cracked and chipped as you are

so do not fret that you are not perfect because
nobody is. 
inevitably we will crash into the ocean sometimes, like
icarus and his wax wings 
inevitably we will reach for the stars
we will try to hold them in the palms of our hands
only to draw back, scalded by their heat
and disheartened by our failure

yet this is natural when you are as achingly human as the rest of us
we make mistakes and we learn and we grow 
perhaps you can't find the strength to do so right now,
but trust that you will one day
and that at that time you will finally see the fruits of your labors
and flowers will creep through the cracks in the stone

but in the meantime remember 
that even the best of us have fallen just as you have
and that sometimes all that you can do
is to take your scars and shattered glass
and make yourself kintsugi,
better for your imperfections.