Tough Love

You want me to be tough.

You say that tough love gets things done.

And I’ve seen that.

You’ve shown me that over the last 4 years.

Built bridges out of the hard things.

Things like going it alone

And keeping the things you want to share

 secret.

But I learned longer ago

That tough love wasn’t for me.

I’ve got skin that flowers into bruised roses with a single sharp word.

I’ve got eyes that hold a thousand bloody doilies underneath them.

And I still have scars from the tough love I was given.

So you go spread your tough love.

Sling your truth against the walls

And splatter paint the crowd.

But I will be sitting here planting daisies in hopes of a smile

And building homes in my heart for the lost ones.

Because tough love works for some

People who never knew it

Or people who learned to crave it.

But I’ve had tough love enough for a life time.

Enough for a life.