Everybody Wants To Own Me

My independence looks a lot like fear when held up to the light
My readiness to accept that my hands are only a reflection of the baggage they carry
That I am only human, and I don't know how to love you past my own risk --
It will get to you
You will want to be my savior, my medic
And I will let you, I will use you as a door to somewhere out of here
Safe in your arms I will shed parts of me I thought I needed, one at a time like baby teeth
Until what is left is the deepest naked,
The final layer of consent
You will be part of this moment that I chose
Until the next moment when I may choose to not include you,
And in that moment of change, will you have the courage to leave me alone?
Or will your hands clench to the strings of me
Clipping my wings
Stapling my feet to the ground
Tell me I cannot make it in this hard world without you
Will you say that I am only soft because the world told me to be a soft woman?
Or will you see that I am soft despite what this world has done to steal my softness?