Sometimes I need a little doubt

Don’t tell me I can fly.
Don’t tell me I can carry the sky on my small and trembling shoulders
because if it falls
it will only make that fallen weight more breaking.
Don’t tell me I can hold my head above the current and walk through the flames
when I know the current is stronger than my feet in the sand
and I don’t want to hide the burns on my palms.
Maybe I will be brave;
don’t expect it.
Maybe I will reach the stars and scatter them across my skin;
don’t count them before I’ve touched them.
Maybe you will be right, and I will 
hold the sky
hold my head above the current
hold fire in my palms,
maybe you will be right.
But maybe you won’t and
I don’t want to see the way your gaze shifts
if I have to tell you 
you were wrong.

QueenofDawn

VT

YWP Alumni

More by QueenofDawn

  • Anxiety

    Anxiety twists bedsheets in its sleep,
    coughs up coffin nails,
    drowns out sounds with cotton swabs
    as it clutches a locked metal box to its chest.
    It hides daisies behind a silicone mask
  • Woman

    Woman is fuchsia falling apart in October, softly
    humming lullabies through an angel’s teeth.
    Woman is pomegranate seeds sliced into revolving stars,
    dissolving into marzipan, sweet
    honey dew hymn,