You Do Not Have to
Hold Up the Sky

They say the deepest wells
are the ones that reach the coolest water.
I think your heart was made that deep for a reason.

I won’t pray that your night ends quickly.
I’ll pray that you find the stars
that only the dark was ever able to reveal.

I won’t pray that the weight disappears all at once.
I’ll pray for the quiet strength that grows beneath it,
the way roots hold a tree steady
long before anyone sees it stand.

You have been carrying so much,
so gently,
that the world mistook your silence for peace.
But Allah knows the difference
between a calm face and a quiet storm.

Gold has never feared the fire.
It knows the flame did not come to destroy it,
but to reveal how pure it always was.
So maybe this ache is not breaking you.
Maybe it is uncovering you.

Every prayer you whispered when no one was near
was heard before it left your lips.
Every tear you hid
was gathered by the One who wastes nothing,
not even sorrow.

Maybe you were not handed this pain
because you are far from Him.
Maybe you were handed it
because you are close enough to be refined.

So rest, Fatima.
You do not have to hold up the sky tonight.
The One who raised it without a single pillar
is holding it,
and holding you.

And when the morning comes, and it will,
you will not have merely survived the night.
You will have become a light
for everyone still waiting on their dawn.