Leave

As much as I care for you, about you,
It doesn't go past my need for self-preservation.
I am compelled to leave you,
Not because I can live without you,
But because I can’t pay the price of isolation you are asking for.
Letting go,
Of others I care about,
Of all that I built for myself until I met you,
Of the things I believe in, and
Of all that has been a part of who I Am,
Until Now, until I met you,
Too much of a price to pay, I think.
And the niggling doubt in my Mind
When you said or unsaid that
You Love me
But Not Love the people,
The ideas
And the life I lead that made me, Me,
The same ME you claim you fell in love with
Feels like a lie, don’t you think?

Maybe you are right.
Maybe I don’t love you enough to put you before Me.
Maybe I am too selfish to make you a priority before me.
Maybe the you I now know doesn’t inspire me,
To change myself for you,
Without your manipulation or coercion.
Maybe I love myself too much to need you,
The way you need me to need you.
And if that is true,
You should do yourself a fantastic favor,
Leave me alone and find someone,
Who can think past themselves,
Give themselves to you the way you want them to.
Hopefully, you’d remember to do the same for them.
For that is your definition of Love,
Not Mine.

Whirlwind

Even the softest

sweetest

tenderest kiss

launched

from your fingers

with the faintest

gentlest breath

endless miles away

is a caress

upon my skin

and a whirlwind

in my soul.