Growing Skin

I won't prioritize potential over what's here.
I won’t keep reading static while the signal waits beside me.
I won't deplete myself tracking the noise of others.

I call my hunger back from rooms that never fed me.
I call my longing back from avoidant hearts.
I call my attention back from absent people.

I call my hope back from those who have shown their limits.
I call my care back from one-sided relationships.
I call my vulnerability back from those who take advantage of it.

I call my life force back from the fantasy of contact.
I call my availability back from those who disappear.
I call my performance back from their projections.

I call my gifts back from those who judge what they don't know how to receive.
I call my effort back from passive aggression and stonewalling.
I call my love back from those who refuse accountability.

I won't lose my center to accommodate their judgment.
I won't hide my aliveness to blend in with their lack of passion.
I won't suppress my grief to help them run from theirs.
I won't bend my spine to help them hide from the truth.

My time is precious.
My attention is a gift.
My touch has a price.

I am not less open because I choose.
I am not less generous because I have limits.

I lean in when you lean in.
I step back when you don't step forward.

I let contact be direct and straightforward.
I let the small good count.