a little bit too much alive

I know you would say 'you owe me nothing'
   But I know you think I owe you
                                                         just a little bit
You think you own a little bit of me

              Not enough to say it
                                       Or even think it out in
                                                                onesolidthought

Enough though, to feel it in your hands      somedays
                                                        on the insides of your cheeks
                                              underneath the skin covering your ribcage that's stretched too thin
               
                                     You feel it
                             Mid-day when your back is turned but you can hear my voice
                  When I brush past and the hairs on your arm wake up
      On the cusp of sleep when your mind loosens up and dances on things you half-forgot

You feel 'I own you a little bit'
                                         'You owe me something of yourself'

But you are wrong there

I am a little bit too much alive for you
                                 I still have a vibrancy that you forgave yourself for never having fully
                                                                                                                                                    years ago
    I am still finding how far my arms                                              reach
                 and how tall I can stand when I'm standing up for something
                                                                                                                            (someone)

                                          You forget how much I belong to myself

I want to tell you      (I want you to know)
                   that even though I make you feel something
                            in places you'd long forgot existed
                                     in places you didn't know about before
                            doesn't mean I owe you anything
                                                                           at all
                                                                           of me.

S.

{Photo: via Thome Yorker Tumblr}