Come to me now.
I will hold you the way you should have been held.
I will love you in a way you never felt.
As a child, no one gathered you close.
No one softened the world for you.
You walked in the footsteps of adults
long before your feet were ready.
You learned early
that your needs were yours alone to meet.
You learned not to ask.
You learned not to need.
You learned to disappear your softness
just to survive.