Unready to love

Unready to love

I carry a weight with no handle,

burdens stitched to the lining of my chest.

My hands shake at the thought of holding someone else's heart-

not because I don't want to,

but because I might drop it.

Love knocks softly,

but l answer with silence,

not out of cruelty,

but out of fear I cannot offer it a home.

I feel too full

of echoes,

of unanswered questions,

and yesterday's ghosts.

So I keep one foot in the door,

the other still pacing the past-

unsure if I'm moving toward love or away from breaking someone else.