Instead of quitting
Ending it now
Taking a detour

You can save that letter for years
Keep it at the bottom of your desk drawer
And you can rediscover it later
Everything written in it will no longer be entirely true
Some of it will be
But one day you can throw that letter away

One day you'll be home
You'll be with someone who loves you-
Despite you not being able to love yourself
That person stuck with you for years
That person even knows about the letter

He stuck with you through your insecurities
Your under accomplishments
Your weakness
Your sickness
Your bitterness
Your sick fantasies

He saved you
So you're still here

Don't think about the bullet
That could have paralyzed you instead of killed you
Or the pills you would have swallowed
And being rushed to the ER afterwards
Or stabbing yourself
Only to scream loud enough to draw attention
You're light so you could hang for thirty minutes
And it'll feel like hours
You can have the car running in the garage for hours
To wake up to a headache at most
I know you thought of all this

Also, keep in mind
The romantic glow of a candle
And the way your lovers face looks in the candle light
The sweet, smoky scent of the room when you blow out the candle
Being in his arms again,
You'll no longer have to sleep alone every night

You can be somewhere pretty,
The southeast coast
It's sunny and warm
The people are friendly
The tea and the accents are sweet
Food is made on the grill, it is food you want to eat
Palm trees and the hard summer rain storms
Drinking by the campfire
Laying down on the docks

This can be your last snowy winter
You won't be standing outside when it's below freezing much longer
To smoke your cigarette
You can be on a hammock with the trees shading the sun
While you're holding your iced tea instead

You can write your poetry
And your short stories and novels on the beach
The seagull cries will be your background music
And you can walk along the water holding hands with your sweetheart
You can kiss him under the fireworks this forth of July

You can let off some steam
By shooting at inanimate targets at the range

You will soon be laying on a towel that shields your hair from the sand,
Drinking a cold bottle of beer on the beach
As your friend brings you another drink from the cooler
The sun will make your sunglasses sticky around your eyes
And you will feel the light and the warmth
And your skin will burn instead of crack and bleed

You can buy a camera
Take pictures of everything beautiful in your life
You can continue your education
Your works of fiction may be published one day
Or simply, you will have the courage to let a friend read one

You can have your own home
Or at least a home that's partially yours
You can share your bed with someone
Someone who wants to sleep with you every night
Kiss you awake every morning

The two of you can make love to your favorite songs
He'll pick you up again
You'll both look happily into the mirror at yourselves
For when you are home you won't think you are ugly anymore
You won't be out of place

You can have a strong love
You will look into the future instead of trying to relive the past
You will be able to grow
You will feel things that are good again; better than before

The pills won't be needed much longer to alter your brain
For the dreams can be real
Your love for sunshine will outweigh your hatred
For those who wronged you