Rupi Kaur

every time you
tell your daughter
you yell at her
out of love
you teach her to confuse
anger with kindness
which seems like a good idea
till she grows up to
trust men who hurt her
cause they look so much
like you

- to fathers with daughters

with my heart in your hands. thank you. for arriving here safely. for being tender with the most delicate part of me. sit down. breathe. you must be tired. let me kiss your hands. your eyes. they must be wanting of something sweet. i am sending you all my sugar. i would be nowhere and nothing if it were not for you. you’ve helped me become the woman i wanted to be.

who tricked you
into believing
another person
was meant to complete you
when the most they can do is complement

if you were born with
the weakness to fall
you were born with
the strength to rise

i stopped loving you
i left because the longer
i stayed the less
i loved myself

love is
supposed to be soft

i don’t cry i pour
when i am happy
i don’t smile i glow
when i am angry
i don’t yell i burn

i will not have you
build me into your life
when
what i want is to
build a life with you
- the difference

neither of us is happy
but neither of us wants to leave
so we keep breaking one another
and calling it love

love is not cruel
we are cruel
love is not a game
we have made a game
out of love