Holding Without Words

Do not tell me I am strong,
I’ve worn those words for far too long.
They’ve stitched themselves into my skin,

Yet never reached the ache within.

Do not tell me, “You’ll be fine.”
I’ve heard those echoes all my life.

They mend the cracks that others see,
But never touch the whole of me.

I do not need a cure tonight.
I do not need you to make things right.

I do not need the perfect phrase
To chase away these heavy days.

I only need
A quiet place.
Your steady hands.
Your calm embrace.

No searching words.
No grand reply.
No asking me
To justify.

Just hold me.

Hold me

Like silence holds the rain.
Like dawn dissolves the night.
Like hands can sometimes say the things
No language ever might.

Let me rest
Without pretending.
Let my shoulders lose their fight.
Let this armour slip away

For just a single night.

I am weary
Of carrying worlds
No one else can see.
Of smiling through the storm
So no one worries over me.

I want to know
What safety feels like.
Not earned.
Not proved.
Not won.

Just given,
Softly,
Freely,
Simply because
I am someone.

See me
When the mask is gone.
When all the careful words have fled.
When all that’s left
Is shaking hands
And thoughts too tired to lift my head.

And after all you’ve seen,
Don’t leave.
Don’t tell me how I’ll heal.
Just stay beside me,
Breathing slow,
Until I can believe
This moment’s real.

For sometimes
Love is not a speech.
Not answers.
Not advice.

Sometimes love
Is saying nothing…

And holding someone
Like they’re worth
The quiet.