You long to be heard,
yet your own ears
refuse to listen.
You long to be seen,
yet turn away
whenever the mirror
shows you something
you do not like.
You ask of others
what you have not learned
to give.
Call it a double standard.
Call it a catch-22.
But the truth is,
you are at war
with yourself.
The bomb is you,
and somehow
everyone else
is blamed
for the wreckage.
You send fire
toward anyone
who comes too close,
then weep at the heat
when they return the flame.
But matched energy
is not always an attack.
Sometimes,
it is the first time
you are forced
to experience yourself
from the other side.
You cannot hold people
to heights
you refuse to climb.
You cannot grow with anyone
if you are always the teacher
and never the lesson.
Not every criticism
is meant to wound you.
Some truths only hurt
because they touch
what you have worked so hard
not to see.
Awareness has power,
but awareness alone
does not repair anything.
You can name
every broken part
and still refuse
to reach for the tools.
If your relationships matter
as much as you claim,
you will have to stop
treating resistance
like protection.
Strip yourself bare.
Let the ego die.
Say rest in peace
to the versions of you
that kept you alive
but no longer know
how to help you live.
You cannot welcome
who you are becoming
while still defending
who you have outgrown.