#shaydedgray

By: shaydedgray

What I'm looking for?

is a love that knows how to stay—

gentle, reciprocal,

speaking in small mercies and “just because.”

A love that serves in quiet ways,

that leaves kindness in ordinary places.

But if you ask me to hold the weight of

your refusal to grow,

your abrasions, your disappearing—

all in the sacred name of guarding your fear…

If my whole must bargain itself

down to your almost…

then I am not the one you seek.

I have misplaced myself there before,

learned how easily light can be traded

for the comfort of another’s shadow.

And I will never again

lay my brightness on the altar