The Other Way

It works the other way too.
Not the way you believed
with its harsh words
and spirit crushing cuts in the night
that bleed silently into the dawn.
Not with its gaslighting erosion
of confidence and backroom surgery of soul.

but

with gentle reminders of worth,
consistency,
and a willingness not to mold,
but to be the scaffolding on which they climb,
build their own castles stone by stone
until they are ready
to spread their wings
and fly.

About this poem

People who have been there, on either end of the poem, will get it.

For those unfamiliar with gaslighting, you can read this.

Tom