~ I’m not your projection

I’m not a metaphor

~ I’m not your projection
I’m not a metaphor
I’m not your symbol
I do not abide by your categories
I don't belong in your idealized box

~ I’m a deeply complex
Multilayered
Hybrid
Paradoxical
Flawed
Being

~ I have many voices
I am capable of hatred and love
I rage and grieve for the world
While tenderly holding my children

~ My feeble body gasps for silence
Solitude
And time
My heart searches for reciprocal kinship
My tired brain finds solace in soft attunement
While my feet root in wobbly ground

~ I’m not yours to take
Reduce
Or superficialize
I’m not yours to control
I don’t dance to your beat
I’m not confined to your lenses or conclusions of whom you think I should be
How should I show up or behave
I don’t follow the rules or expectations you imprison my identity in

~ I navigate metabolic storms you cannot imagine
I’m not zen or chill
All I can offer is my awkward words and presence
In the cracks of introverted silences

~ I belong to a deep web of troubles and trust
I throb in raw resonance
I settle mirroring mystery
Allow me to be complex

~ Come and find me
And we will walk together