Welcome to my favorite poems for rainy spring nights! In this listicle you’ll find 25 poems from Courtney Peppernell’s I Hope You Stay; One of my best friends gifted me this book when I was going through a tough time and even if the poems are not your style or usual read, I hope they give you that warm, cool breeze feeling that the freshness of the spring season brings like they do for me.
Enjoy
xx Gab
1. Page 58: “I hope when you fall, you have a soft landing, but even if you don’t and it takes time for you to find your feet, know that you are worth every step.”
2. Page 62: “What I have come to know more than anything is that my soul grows and changes. There are moments it feels full, and others empty, but it continues forward, moving with every step I take in this life.”
3. Page 65: “ You still struggle some days with the idea of what you could have become versus what you are. But what you are is everything. What you are can be grown. Keep growing.”
4. Page 69: “Moments make us older, now I’m further away from who I was. I’m taking things slow, but I am still a child at heart, some things I barely know.”
5. Page 70: “We’re all happy and lonely, going and getting at the same time. We’re all chasing all the love and dreams we hope to find.”
6. Page 80: “I could lie and tell you life will be easy, but I owe you more than this. Life is remembering to say please and thank you, watching sunsets when you need space and time to think, it’s catching your breath after laughing until your sides ache, it’s forgiving yourself when relationships break. It’s returning the things you borrow and counting blessings, it’s keeping promises and following your feet, it’s dancing in the rain and pulling your hood up in the sleet. It’s never expecting life to be fair, taking chances, being there when people need you. It’s dreaming big and living small moments, it’s holding hands in the cinema and drinking wine in a courtyard under fairy lights. It’s remembering the things that make your heart swell and letting go of the things that keep you up at night.”
7. Page 82: “You achieve dreams by facing your fears. By experiencing the doubt and the disbelief and choosing to carry on anyway.”
8. Page 108: “We were up for hours that night, sitting cross-legged on the living room floor, the lights off, the TV glare filling the space. You had boxes full of old DVDs, showing me which movies made you cry and which ones made you laugh. Which ones you turned off and which ones caused a flutter in your heart. And even if I was tired, I was drowsy from too much wine, I could have listened to you for hours more, because the way you talk about the things you love is why its you I adore.
9. Page 110: “Date who you want to date, love who you want to love. Tongue-tied and heart beating fast is how to live.”
10. Page 131: “The tree bends, breaks, and lives through the storm, but despite the wind and rain, the roots still hold on to the earth.”
11. Page 136:” I hope you find time for yourself, in between the motions of your week and all the things that keep you up at night. In between it all, I hope you find a moment to breathe.”
12. Page 138: “On a cloudy day, I went to lunch with some friends. A hidden maze of cafes wedged between old red brick walls, and flowerpots lining the stalls. I sketched fingertips across white-tipped leaves, had coffee near sunflowers, and breathed in fresh air. Then the clouds parted, and the sun shone, and in that fraction of a moment, the world felt healed.”
13. Page 139: “All these sounds that take up living spaces, echoing of first dates, a song of someone in love, a child laughing at her father making faces, a friend holding open the door, a traveler returning to familiar places. All sounds of being alive, of wanting this healing to be so much more.”
14. Page 141: “The space in your heart that opens and closes to love, how it will suffer, but oh how it will renew. Keep your pulse beating to all the love inside you.”
15. Page 143: “You need to be lost, to be on uneven ground. So, you learn, and you grow. When you struggle, you understand what being grateful really means.”
16. Page 157: “It’s how you see yourself and the expectations you set. When you expect too much from yourself, you begin to doubt the things you can do. When you base your idea of perfection around ideas that aren’t achievable, you begin to believe you are not worthy. But if you stop expecting so much of yourself and set small, achievable goal, you begin to find courage, even on the darkest days.”
17. Page 159: “Self-care is messy. It is sometimes easy and other times difficult. But it’s about continuation. Continue to look after yourself.”
18. Page 161: “I am not going to be or act a certain way for anyone. I am who I am, and I am going to embrace it. Not everyone will like me, but the most important thing is that I love me, all my parts, working together, all that makes me whole.”
19. Page 168: “So, you slept a handful of hours and managed half a meal; so you walked to your front door, opened it, and closed it again. You slept more hours than the week before, you ate half instead of nothing, and you got up instead of staying. That’s stepping, just keep stepping.”
20. Page 169: “For every long moment a breath catches in the back of your throat, too weary to exhale, know that all your healing exists in the small details. At a party on a Saturday night, in the corner talking to a girl you just met, spilling your soul to a stranger because sometimes it’s easier to talk to a new friend than an old memory you regret. A weekend drive on a long highway with the sun shining, and you’re smiling because sometimes fresh air is better than not finding the words to say all you’ve been feeling and thinking. Turning a song up loud, because it makes you dizzy remembering all the things about yourself. You should be forgiving and not apologizing for living,”
21. Page 194: “Things happen because of your involvement and drive to make it happen. Things happen because you put your heart and soul into achieving all your goals. Rising from ashes is so much sweeter when you know you’ve worked for clear skies.”
22. Page 199: “When you are told not to speak, you realize the power in your voice. You must stay strong in your values, your wants, your compassion. Fight for your freedom, as there is no other choice.”
23. Page 201: “How many of us have seen strength in a woman wielding a sword, leading battlefields, mapping plans for victory- know that sometimes battle is also in the quieter moments, like standing up for what is yours, speaking encouragement to the women around us, supporting each other when life gets us down, helping her up when she feels she might drown.”
24. Page 210: “As you grow, you will do so with a little more wisdom, a path lighted with healing, a mind daring for answers. And you will continue moving forward, onward and upward to better things.”
25. Page 211: “We must stand up for each other. In difference, there is learning, and in humanity, there is understanding.”