The Dishes

We are all sponges.
Some are sucking up more than they can hold / an entire meal of feelings / without dealing with their own.
I’m spitting out pain now / there’s so little to gain / from being swallowed whole.
It’s clear.
I took and I took / without a backward look / at my future.
I gave and I gave / now you wonder why I crave
silence / space.

We are all sponges.
And I don’t want to forget or deny empathy / it’s just right now I’m too empty / or rather too full / of you.
So now I’ll take space / to finally embrace who you are / fully.
See you with clear eyes / ’cause when you’re too close /  you’re out of focus.
Larger than a lifetime of dishes.

You want to be clean / I understand / but mopping up the floor with me is not an option.
I’m tired of soaking up the spilled milk of our relationship / there’s no use crying!
I’m not dying to be you or their teddy bear absorbing anger or fear / just making it clear so you know where I stand / firmly.
I’m wringing myself out / hanging up my soul to dry by the fire where anger’s burning / but not too close.
Learning resistance by distance / saving by making way for others to feel / I’ll heal / myself.