The Quartet of Sovereignty

From Fuck It to Fuck You

You need fuck it
to let go of your bullshit.
You need fuck you
to let go of theirs.

You say fuck it
to face your fears.
You say fuck you
to face theirs.

Fuck it takes courage.
But courage
without anger
reaches relational depletion.

What’s mine is mine
what’s yours is yours.
Don’t ask me
to carry your garbage,
and tell me it’s my fault.

Fuck it
is not enough.
Fuck you
is necessary too.

So fuck it,
fuck you too.

The Vow of Boundary

I belong to myself now.
I am on my side.
I won’t let my understanding
get in the way of my anger.

I won’t build your side of the bridge
I’ll build mine
and meet you
in the middle.

My invitations are clean,
I won’t worship absence
and pretend
it’s a relationship.

My anger is not here
to sever the connection.
It’s here to destroy
self-abandonment.

I won’t ask for permission
to live my life.
I don’t need a legal defense
for existing.

I can hold my center,
not just know where it is.
I have a dream,
but I don’t live in fantasy.

I ask for what I need,
I take what’s offered.
I don’t negotiate
with what’s not available.

I can wait.
I’m here to stay.
I can want more,
without becoming less.

From Fuck You to Let Me Help You

I’m not sorry for hurting you
by telling you that you hurt me.

I used to think that being treated badly
was somehow my fault.
I must have done something to deserve it.

Now I know that reality
was much more grim than that.
You hurting me had nothing to do with me.
That’s simply all you were capable of.

You gave me your best.
But your best was harmful.
I mistook your poverty
for my unworthiness.

It must be miserable
living inside you.
Perhaps that’s why you take it out on others
and tell them they deserved it.

Well, you can’t hurt me any more
and you don’t look so strong and fierce.

You look bitter and petty.
I wish you could see yourself,
So you could start being better.
But you can’t because it’s too ugly.

So you keep chasing your tail
between self hatred
and blame
and distraction.

I won’t lie to show mercy,
it’s a sad sight to behold.
But when the truth breaks you open,
I can be there to meet you.

The Vow of Service

I’m no longer severed from life.

I am a part of nature.
I am aliveness.
I am connected.

I am a part
but I’m not separate.

I have needs
but I know how to meet them.

I have scars
but the past no longer defines me.

I am connected
but I can hold boundaries.

I am available.
I can care without carrying.

I am generous
because I can say no.

I’m happy to be here.
I’m not asking you to make me real.
I don’t need you to complete me.

I can help you
because I no longer have to.

And I know
that I won’t lose myself.