I NEED

I need you to be quiet

to not fill the air

with your words

all the time.

I need you to listen

to the silence

as I do, to hear what it says

and say nothing, just listen.

I need to know you're sincere

that you can be depended upon

to keep your word

to do what you say.

I need you to ask me,

not tell me

what or how

I should feel or think.

I need to know

that you will not run

when it gets ugly or messy

or too uncomfortable.

I need to know that

I still have a place

in this world

that has become so foreign,

that you see me,

who I am,

what I have to offer,

that I am more than

what has happened,

that you are not afraid,

that you cannot catch from me

the tangled web

I am in.

Written by Deb Kosmer of Oshkosh, Wisconsin