he loved my fire… as long as i was held tight within his grasp…

he loved my fire…
as long as i was held tight within his grasp.
but when i was out of his line of sight,
i’d better be somewhere
soft-voiced and southern-charmed,
sitting still and not looking too pretty.
and so i made myself sweeter and smaller
and less and less and less, for his fears…
and in the end, he still couldn’t love me.
and i didn’t love me either.
but i’m slowly starting to…
and i want to love all of me.

so the next time a boy wants to bring me flowers,
he has to want to love my fire too.

– butterflies rising

not just when she's flowers but when she's fire

could you
love her, still…
when she’s not only
soft in your arms
but when she’s wild
with the moon and restless…
and maybe just a little out of reach
from your fingertips.
could you love her, still,
when she’s not only sweet and
resting easy on your chest,
but when she’s wild blossomed in the night
and searching for more inside of herself
than who you may think she is.
could you love her
not just when she’s flowers
but when she’s fire.
she has to know… if she lets you close…
when she blooms wild and burns bright…
could you love her, still.

– butterflies rising

searching for a way to say “I need me” and “I want you”… all in the same breath.

– butterflies rising

somewhere
there is a lover who
will kiss you like you have
poetry and addiction
on your lips
and needs your touch
and taste like mercy
on their soul

– butterflies rising

i think
you have to chase it.
that thing that tells you…
keep. going.
that there are wilder sunsets
and more colors to know.
that there are still answers for
what’s pulling at you.
that the emptiness and heartbreak aren’t
where love will leave you because somewhere
there is a lover who will kiss you like you have
poetry and addiction on your lips and who
needs your touch and taste like
mercy on their soul.
and there are all those virgin, unfelt things in you;
still untouched and tender and unfolding.
so you have to keep searching.
for all that soul stuff.
until your intangible aches are in the flesh
and that fire within you is spilling all around you…
i think you have to keep going.

– butterflies rising

you have to keep going.
there are wilder sunsets and more colors
to know. and there are still answers for what’s
pulling at you. and i think you have to chase them…
i think you have to keep going.

– butterflies rising