Suffocating

You hold her as if she is fragile
As if a loose grip would lose her







Your fears tell you to keep her close
Close enough to reach out for
In the middle of the night
When your subconscious tells you
That she is heading for the door

You break your back
To cushion the future you have with her
Lining the path with bubble wrap and tears
Desperate to keep her from fracturing
Under the weight of you

Holding her tightly against you
Unknowingly squeezing the life out of her
Unable to give her the space to move
She lies gasping in your grip
While you are looking over her shoulder

You are so focused on where you are going
You fail to see where you are
That the girl you put on a pedestal
Is doing everything in her power to climb down
As you chain her to your fantasies

She is trying to escape your spotlight
Fighting for the darkness to be herself
She is no delicate flower in need of constant tending
She does not bend so easy to winds of discourse
She has been through too much

You place her above all others
As any man with intelligence would
But you hold on too tightly
She feels the pressure to maintain silent acceptance
Even as she loses the will to be with you

I hope you see what she fears to tell you
That your love is suffocating
Your attempts to sacrifice yourself for her
Is what she wants most to avoid
She wants you, she does not need you

You see your actions as admirable self-sacrifice
The natural response to having what you always wanted
Refusing to hear her cry for space
The need to be alone sometimes
To be there for her without an agenda

Some day she will show you
She is not as fragile as you make her out to be
She has strong will and determination
A true self-independent woman
Ready to take on the world

You have not learned
Your role is to support
Not to control
You love by listening
Or you love alone