"I Don’t Want To Be Touched Again & Other Poems" by Elizabeth Salvatori

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I could hear the plea

Not for help, 

Just for someone to love her 

Not for someone to need her 

But for someone to want her 

Tears filled my eyes 

I wanted to scream how much I care about you 

 

You aren't supposed to feel this way 

I thought being an adult changed people’s feelings

But I’m learning that is not the case 

 

You shouldn't feel like you have to do anything

Please understand me when I say that your life should be your 

Choice and yours alone

 

An underwhelming current dragged you, 

Kicking but not screaming 

Pretending you were fine 

But never saying it was. 

 

I know I am a younger than you 

But I need you to listen to me 

When I say that those tears will always be okay

I know you don’t believe me 

 

But I understand those tears 

They aren't the first shed in your honor

And I’m not sure they will be the last. 

 

I need you to listen to me when I hold your hand

When I cant formulate the words to tell you that I love you; 

That I want you 

And maybe its not the kind you are looking for 

But maybe 

Just maybe 

It can be enough to tide you over 

Until you can learn to love yourself

To want yourself 

I promise you, 

There will come a day

When you can stop pretending 

And you will wake up 

And you will be more than okay. 

 

You will be the only one choosing your life, 

And the only tears you will shed 

Are the ones from laughing too hard

---

"Poppies and Citrus Tea" by Elizabeth Salvatori

Just like poppies 

she stands open

so the sun can hit her body 

just right 

Hallucinations, dreams of a wild variety

she leaves an imprint on your soul

for days at a time 

changing your perspective on 

life, some say, 

false information,

twisted into something appealing. 

But just as a citrus tea refreshes 

those who drink it,

she brings a new kind of feeling 

to the fog neatly seated in your brain