For them, this is the best way to live
Taking wary, cautious steps
Arms spread, feeling around for obstacles
They've been hurt before
It's natural to try to avoid things that cause pain
A sense of self-preservation
But when sensitivity to tiny signs
Malignant or benign, it doesn't matter
If they sense anything that will disrupt their precarious balance
Shut it down shut it down shut it down
They feel things too intensely to do otherwise
Too vivid too bright too sharp too dark
Conversely, when someone or something brings light
Into their tiny bubble of security
They hoard it
They crave it
They'll do everything in their power to keep it
Like dragons
Guarding their treasures
Aggressively protecting those who keep it happy
Though we would prefer that they stay of their own accord
Did I say "we"? I meant "they", the "dragons".
Backspace, rewind, shut it down
When the people they raise onto grand pedestals
Become overwhelmed
By the intense emotions thrust upon them
They may mistake affection for clinginess and
Can no longer stand the attention showered upon them
They turn their backs
And everything goes dark
In the minds of the dragons, they've been abandoned
Maybe the person they adored was not a good person
Yes, if they were capable of abandoning us
If they were capable of wronging us
If they were capable of hurting us
Of lying to us
Then we better make sure that the door
Hits them hard on their way out
Make sure they know they're the ones in the wrong
That they're the villains here
Because though we did nothing but
Love and support them
And they dared to abandon us
They deserve to suffer
Just as much as we have suffered at their hands
Give them their just desserts
It's only fair, after all
They just used us, toyed with us
Damned us to Hell is what they did
Make sure they feel remorse
They have to feel like they're the absolute worst
Strangle them until they can't breathe
And when they're finally out of our sight
When we know they'd never come back
Even if you offered to pay them twelve million bucks
Just to give us the time of day
We sit down.
Look around at the wreckage
Surrounding our tired bodies
Not again
This keeps happening
No, this time it was different
How?? It wasn't different! We've been doing this for years!
I swear I didn't mean to split.
Alone again
All over again
But part of me wants to blaim you
It was your fault for getting involved with me
You knew the risk
We both knew I warned you
About my true nature
You said you could accept me as I were
I told you I might try to push you away
You said
You would stay
But my forceful words were too much for you
Who was truly to blame?
Would you hold the dragon accountable
For wanting to protect itself from emotional pain?
We've been betrayed too many times
Always by those who say they love us the very most
The flames are always too much to handle
They always leave me behind
Chained to the scaly, "scary" beast
That is part of me
We come together, as a set
But nobody wants to deal with a monster
Nobody wants to get hurt
I can understand that much
But what I cannot forgive
What we will not forget
Is that we gave them everything
And to this day, it feels like we got
Absolutely nothing in return
But bitter memories
No explanations
We gave and we accepted eternally
Not really wanting much other than
Reassurance and company --
It's fine. I'm okay. I'm starting to get used to the dampness
Alone with my dragon in our cave
There's no light at the end of this tunnel
But the fire my dragon breathes
There's no warmth in this place
But the fire my dragon breathes
Though I fear that which burns everyone I care for
All that keeps me from freezing to death
Are the wicks lit by the fire my dragon breathes
So if I never meet another person who can stand the heat
My suspicions will be confirmed
We wonder if this is our fate
The chain linking our feet rattles when we walk
Dragging noisily along the musty cave floor
