i’ll push back


you make me feel trapped,
struggling to get free. 
you hold everything you've ever done for me,
dangle it over my head 
and taunt me with its existence. 
you use your favors as bargaining chips 
and it wears me thin. 
you claim openness and 
you say you'll give me space 
but you only see what you want to see. 
you never think about what happens when you're not around. 
the constant searching and trying. 
then you come home 
and belittle me 
and yell at me 
and tell me you resent me for not trying. 
but i am. 
i really am. 
i am every day,
just because i don't scream it out to you 
doesn't mean 
it doesn't occur. 
you do not see the air you breathe 
yet you never question it is there. 
people tell you it is,
thus it is. 
so why do you question me?
distrust me?
i do not deceive you. 
i am my own person,
i have been through hell and back,
and unlike some others who
have known you
i've decided 
you're still worth my time. 
don't push your luck. 
because i've grown. 
and ive learned. 
and no longer will i believe blood is thicker than water. 
blood is nothing in the face of unjust actions
and pointed fingers 
and unreasonable accusations.
so, do not push me. 
because i will push back. 
and you will wake up 
with an empty house. 
you many lose me if you wish. 
but know that i will never return. 
 

lila woodard

VT

YWP Alumni

More by lila woodard

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    i feel like i don’t know you anymore. 

    i barely recognize your face at this point 

    all your city friends hate me 

    playful kisses in the comments 

    much more sinister then they seem
  • november pills


    it's a reprise of 
    my adolescent thoughts
    ones i had pushed away 
    ones the little capsules of 
    blue and orange had suppressed. 
    but those capsules sometimes 
    stuck in my throat, 
  • uninspired






    hi

    i know you’re reading this 

    checking it from in front of me 

    not in metaphors though. 

    and maybe these words 

    don’t hit you 

    like they normally would.