“A” for effort

“A” for effort


The smell of cigarettes sticks to my skin
Even after i leave, My hair now smells
Like ash-tray. You ask for my love instead
Of allowing me to love you freely. Then you
Ask me not to love you, you feel “unworthy”.
I PRAY for patience
You look like you need to be saved
But, I cannot save you. Sometimes we have to
Save ourselves. I feel I don’t have the strength
To help you. My shoulders are already heavy from
The weight of my own burdens. I hunch over a
Little more. I want to shake the doubt from you
But it lives, dirty, underneath your fingernails,
Behind your ears. Every place your mother told
You to wash growing up. I wish I could hand you
A wash cloth and have it cleanse your doubt but
I can’t fix you.