Here

Here is the place

I still bleed

And I trust you now

My weapons at your feet

I'll open myself

Pull the last thread

And I am afraid

That

You

are afraid

That you will turn away

And leave me

Naked and

Undone

But it wouldn't be the first time

I've stood taken for granted

Unwanted

So it would be one more lesson learned

Another moment of

Courageous vulnerability

Being too much

for Another to hold

That is not a first either, and yet...

I chose to stay soft

I wish not to harden

And here in this place,

It is you who have my full pardon

I invite you in...

I won't die here

So please don't fear

You cannot hurt me anymore

Than the damage that has already been done

By the reckless hands of ones

Who feared more than they loved

Remember-

All that is required here

Is to be tender with our hearts

Still beating, despite the used and broken parts

Bullet proof, perhaps

Not going down under fire anymore

Standing despite the shifting shore

Do you let your fear take the reigns?

Do you forfeit your strength?

Do you stand?

This ground is room enough for us

The only jilt is to not show up.