Stitched (poem)

Sometimes it's scarier

to stay than to go,

when home is loneliness

and escape is a new start.

But sometimes leaving changes you,

makes you Stitch when he leaves Lilo

to go find his family,

only to be lost alone in the woods.

Because belonging isn't found

like in the Ugly Duckling.

Belonging is created,

like Frankenstein's monster.

It's stitched together

with all the broken parts of ours,

their contradictions apparent and visible,

and yet, harmonious.

It's terrifying to try,

“what if I don't fit?”

“what if they reject me?”

“what if the stitches come apart?”

And leaving is so alluring,

“what if I haven't found the right people?”

“they're out there, I'm sure.”

“that other place will be home.”

In a way we're all Stitch,

lost alone in the woods,

alien to everyone and everything,

inescapably different.

But we can build a family,

sure it may be small,

and it may be broken,

but it's still good, still home.

And that is enough.

-Zero