(and other things i won't say to your face)


i am not
   a thing or
a toy.

i am a
creature,

of this earth
and among
countless men
and women
gone before me,
with me
and after me.

i breathe.
i think.

i do not
exist
for you.

i do not
trudge these
circles on the ground
to clear a path
for you.

i am me
without you,
and i am me
with you.

i do not
make a space for you
lightly.

i do not
let you in
for you to
ransack my house.

i do not write
to make you
golden and bright.

i do it because
i can see you.
i can hear you.
and i love you.

and there is
no way
for me to be
other than
what i am.

so
*******
if you
choose
not to see
**me.