He called himself the devil but I saw his light. Said it like a warning. But I didn’t flinch. Because I too worked for the devil— wore his chains, spoke his language, until I learned to unspell myself. I saw the angel in him— not fallen, just lost. Like I was. I recognized the fear. The light he still had but couldn’t hold. He ran. Not from me, but from the mirror I became. And in his silence, I heard everything. I always wanted to be a teacher and dancer. And with our story, I taught. And I danced. He made us both sad. But sadness is sacred when it breaks you open to your own becoming. He was an angel. He just didn’t know. But I did though. And through his words and music, he made my soul grow. by Rosalind P. Steed I wrote this poem about a man I met — the same man I wrote about in my book The Devil I Didn’t Meet. Have you ever mistaken someone’s warning for who they truly were — and what did their presence (or their silence) end up teaching you about yourself?

They fear what the truth will ask of them. Have you been avoiding a truth that would require you to change?

Now in the Classroom For a long time, many of us learned to quiet parts of ourselves just to get through life. Not because we wanted to, but because it felt safer. Your truth didn’t disappear. It just went quiet. Awakening With Poetry is now live in the Classroom — a 12‑week journey to help you reconnect with yourself through writing, reflection, and honesty. If you’re ready to come back to yourself, the journey is open.

When the weight gets heavy and the days feel long, when you’re trying to stay steady but everything feels wrong— know this: it won’t last. When your mind starts racing and your hope runs thin, when you’re fighting old battles you thought you’d already won again— breathe. This too shall pass. Waves roll in and waves roll out. What feels like the end is never the end— it’s a reroute. Pain hits hard, but it doesn’t stay. It teaches, it shifts, then it moves out of the way. You won’t always feel what you’re feeling today. Your heart will lighten, your path will clear, your strength will rise right out of the fear. You’ve survived every moment you thought you couldn’t get past. You’ll survive this one too— and you’ll rise right after it’s passed. Know this: nothing stays forever. Not even us. Nothing lasts. We too shall pass by Rosalind P. Steed . Reflective Questions What part of your life feels “heavy but temporary,” and what would shift if you believed it truly won’t last? When you look back at a moment you once thought would break you, what strength did you discover in yourself that you didn’t know you had?

I created this because I’ve lived it. I know what it feels like to have a son in jail. To wait. To worry. To hold everything together on the outside while someone you love is on the inside. That experience shaped me — and it inspired me to build something that didn’t exist. WhenYouGettinOut is now live. A private web app offering resources, reminders, motivation, and support for anyone waiting on a loved one or navigating re‑entry. If this is your reality, or someone you love’s reality, this app space was built with you in mind. whenyougettinout.com