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I Never Forget to Mention There Are Tenderness Requirements

Does Anyone?

Well…how gentle can you be?

My question arrests momentum
usual progression from this to that
separates thoughts that coalesce into compounds
with potential to change state
from where we are
to “Where are we going with this…with us?”

An open border
this off-limits part of me allowed access by you.

A fertile ground
never ploughed never bound
but can register a trust-reserve breach in seconds
because I own vulnerabilities
now poised
beneath you
sharpened steel
my eyes a plea
of every external validation you will offer
that survival rates are high
to surety without certainty
and guarantees on a gamble
of feather-light touches over my indwelling traumatic fears
and self-imposed affliction screaming to drown out all it hears.