And Me...

Give and Take

I give and I take.

I listen.

I take in the words that I know make me bleed,

And when I do, I give out some words grown from venomous seeds.

I listen.

I take in the sounds of the autumn leaves and trees and winter snow,

the girl aggrieved and the boy who can only hear no.

I speak.

Giving voice to shattered dreams in my head,

Reawakening sleeping thoughts that my insecurities dread-

I speak.

Much less than I should,

I am waking from a prison, it is the first time I am free.

And I will speak and listen until they are the things that imprison me

Because I give and take.

I give her my view because she walks with blinders on and cannot see,

I give her my calm because everyday she loses her sanity,

I give her my consideration because she is just as human as me.

I give her myself, I am her key.

I will unlock for her the freedom that escapes me,

Because I give and I take.

I give him my company because he is a boy and boys shouldn't be left alone,

I give him the wisdom I've harnessed in youth that he'll need when he's grown,

I give him a smile because he sees nothing bright,

I give him a hug that infuses his inner light with the brilliant night.

I give him myself, I am his dream.

His unconscious rationale when the world is too mean,

Because I give and I take.

Giving as much as taking,

Hoping as much as seeing,

Realizing as much as dreaming-

Because this world is a giant rake and it rakes away those of us who are the fallen leaves.