Someone tells you to look on the bright side.
They mean well. They want the ache to stop.
But grief doesn't vanish because you found a silver lining.
It just goes quiet for a while. Then returns louder.
There's a pressure to rush past what hurts.
To skip to the lesson. To find the good and stay there.
As if sadness is a room you shouldn't linger in.
But the sky doesn't choose one kind of weather.
It holds sun and storm without apology.
You're allowed to feel proud of how far you came
and still ache for what didn't work out.
Both are true. Neither cancels the other.
You don't heal by skipping chapters.
You heal by finishing them.
