When strength grows quiet
and the body moves with careful breath,
remember—
the light within you remains untouched.
Though illness unsettles the surface of your days,
it cannot trespass upon the luminous center
where your true self lives and shines.

A sacred nearness keeps gentle watch beside you—
soft as first light spread across a still landscape,
steady as the seasons returning in their appointed grace.
It lifts what feels too heavy,
steadies what trembles,
and settles around your weariness
like calm woven from compassion itself.

When hope feels distant,
let your spirit lean into the quiet.
For in such stillness,
a presence finer than breath
draws near—
not in proclamation,
but in the quiet assurance
that you are held with a tenderness
beyond anything the body can measure.

Do not behold yourself
through the lens of what has been altered.
Your worth remains whole and inviolate;
your beauty, unshadowed;
your spirit, radiant with a grace
untouched by any passing ache.

And though this path may at times feel steep,
you do not walk it alone.
A quiet strength accompanies you—
gathering each fear,
infusing your heart with courage,
and placing a soft and steady light
along the way ahead.

Take heart, beloved one.
Even now, resilience unfurls within you.
Even now, hope stirs with renewed breath.
Even now,
you are cradled—
gently, faithfully—
in a love that will not falter
and will not depart.

◊

For Jennifer🌷