I won’t always walk gently.
Sometimes I will stomp,
and I will rage,
and my footsteps will shake
the mountains of love
you have heaped upon my earth.
I won’t always speak kindly.
Sometimes I will spit,
and I will scream,
and the venom from my tongue
will poison the oceans of love
you have brought to my shores.
I won’t always live passionately.
Sometimes I will hide,
and I will cry,
and the blackness from my soul
will darken the gardens of love
you have planted at my door.
I won’t always be me.
Sometimes I will be the very thing
I have been fighting against,
and it will swallow me,
and it will laugh,
and I will climb out of the depths
of it all to meet you gently,
and kindly, and passionately again.

I Won’t Always Be Me is from Nicole Lyon’s third book, Blossom and Bone.