I Owe You Nothing

A Poem

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

I owe you nothing
Hands and heart bare
Screaming for acceptance from
Empty space you fill-up
Shadowed in the words you won’t speak

I owe you nothing
Decades of trauma you
Induce on the pads of your
Tainted fingertips
Those hands you once sheltered me with

I owe you nothing
A heart full of love
Our bond held together like
Used scotch tape
This love for you burns deep
Incinerating the years of taped up emotions

I owe you nothing
Standing at your feet with all but
Everything I have left to give
Never enough for you because my
Wants for truth are too much
In return

I owe you nothing
Small cries from a big girl
Big girls don’t cry they say and still I
Drown in the tears I have shed for the
Thought of “you.”

She is owed so much though
Soft embraces from a big girl to
The little one who aches inside
Years of self-love will prevail and
She will rise up confident and beaming
Loved by many all the while
And still owing you
Nothing.