Changing with the Tides

Shelby Leigh

• Publisher: Gallery Books
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781668010167
• eBook ISBN: 9781668010174
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: American Poetry
• Index: Literature

TikTok poet Shelby Leigh presents a moving and inspirational collection of poetry about growing up and embracing all the beauty life has to offer. The perfect gift for fans of Rupi Kaur, Connor Franta, and Cleo Wade. Shelby Leigh breaks up her poignant and reflective poetry collection into two themes: the anchor and the sail. While the anchor explores issues of insecurity, heartbreak, and anxiety, the sail focuses on healing and hope after the storm.With an emphasis on self-empowerment, c hanging with the tides is an evocative and celebratory set of poems for anyone who dreams of following their heart and embracing their true self.

the sail

to anxiety, ii:

you’ve always been good at

choking me

with my own words

but

i am

tired of feeling tired

when i speak.

today

i must apologize to myself

for placing a hand

over my mouth

while my voice patiently

waited to be heard.

(i’m sorry.)

to the one who hurt me:

when i was nine, my brother and i

caught a frog and kept it in a bucket outside,

hidden away in the tree house our dad built for us.

after school, we searched through the grass

for bugs for it to eat and

filled a bowl with water for it to drink and bathe.

through four cold winter months,

the frog had no shelter beyond the leaves

that blew in from the branches above.

when i look back, i realize how it suffered.

i realize the pain we caused

even though we had good intentions.

we were just loving it the best way we knew how.

so when you look back, i hope you realize

i suffered, too.

how the love you draped over me wore a disguise.

it looked like water to drink but really

it drowned me.

it looked like food to eat but really

it starved me.

it looked like shelter from the cold but really

i felt so far from home.

what i’m trying to say is, i know you had good

intentions. but you just weren’t any good for me.

i hope one day

you realize that

love is not

synonymous

with pain.

to the one who stole from me, ii:

(you made me forget i am human.)

i gave you my happiness by the handful,

harvesting pieces of myself as if i were

plucking petals from daisies.

(you told me i couldn’t survive without you.)

i thought you were my water, my ray of light,

but you were a drought, an eternal night.

(you told me i had too much love to give.)

i was a field of blooming flowers,

but you tore every stem from their roots

and left me with a barren body.

(you made me forget i need love, too.)

now i am regrowing my garden

and keeping these flowers for myself.

(you will never pull the life from me again.)

you washed over me

like a wave of darkness

and still expected me to

light the sky for you.

to the one who lied, ii:

i am not afraid

to empty

the world of you

and bury your

broken promises

with ash.

(so watch me burn

all the pages

i ever dared to

write your name.)

do not weep for me.

you are not worthy of

my tongue speaking your name,

my skin knowing your touch,

my mind swimming in memories of you.

do not weep for me.

don’t you dare shed a tear.

because i am done weeping for you.

to the one who held me back:

my ankles burn from the rope

that you’ve tied around them

but i haven’t stopped walking,

have i?

this is what happens when you tell me

i’m not good enough.

(i prove you wrong.)

i was ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• The Anchor
• The Sail
• Connect with Shelby
• Copyright