Falling in love with you
has left me falling apart.
Pieces of me, old pieces, worn pieces
distorted and degraded pieces
keep falling away.
Parts of me that don’t know how to love, that
don’t know how to listen, how to be patient,
how to reach for kindness through fury and
blinding frustration; those parts of me
just
keep falling away.
Like a tree in the winter, I shed my withered leaves,
as my foliage
falls away.
Like a snake growing, molting, renewing and healing,
my outer shell
falls away.
Like a young butterfly searching, pushing, forcing
my way out of the darkness,
my cocoon
falls away.
And out of the fallen, discarded pieces and parts of me
steps a being
born of love
born of faith
born of the will to keep, forever,
falling in love
with you.
Reese Leyva 
What beauty lies in pain