Have you ever had lives
In your hands?
Every choice you made
Would affect them
Either way

I have lives in my hands
I hold them on opposites ends
I want them both to be safe
But both of their safety
Can’t exist in the same place
I strip one of their freedom
Gifting them a rusted chain
And forcing them to stay
While the other flourishes
And I water them with love every day

I see the chained one lying down
I can hear their crying at night
My heart squeezes until it bursts
I can’t even describe how much it hurts
I look down at the flourishing one
And take away their water
And worry if that one day
Was the day that it would matter

The chained one
Now free, rests in my lap
They love me
And cling to me
Happy that they’re no longer lonely
But then the flourishing one wilts
And I can’t save them
Their very roots are dead
It is all my fault
I hold their corpse to my chest
The chained one then dies
They must exist together
But they can’t both exist
Happy and free