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Do you ever learn how to take a compliment?

Let the words pierce that arming cap of leather between your ears 

Know that someone values the words you mentally chew

And taste,

The flavors that swirl in your brain

Like the sea breathing in and out of Charybdis' aching jawline

It's impossible to know you're worth something.

I bet all of us inside wonder what true recognition feels like, as we slumber

In our cheap cotton sheets.

That hand trickling down the back of your hair, into your shirt, and onto your back.

You're so smart

You're so kind

You have a great voice

These words rage against the monotonous drone of insults

Playing the greatest hits of self-deprecating records.

One day, if we're lucky, they'll puncture through that hurricane deluge,

And prop your weary arms in celebration

Of the fact that you are worth something, anything, to anyone, for just a moment. 

But until then, grab a slicker coat and practice your best Gene Kelly impression,

Because hoo boy, it's a wet one in there