For once...

For once...

I want to feel loved.

For once, let me be me —

without the filters this world wants to place on me.

For once,

let me just exist

as the small, childish, nonchalant girl...

who slept on her mother’s lap

and hugged her father tight on a bike ride.

For once,

can I tell them

that their words have shattered me

a thousand quiet times?

Can I complain?

Just once?

And then,

erase those words from their memory like they were never said.

For once,

can I hug someone —

tight, tighter —

until my heart melts into tears?

To feel a warmth so real,

I forget the world around me.

Is that too much?

For once,

can life feel more like living

than simply surviving?

Can someone, just one person,

show me that yes — people stay?

For once,

can I feel loved...

without asking for it?

Can love feel like healing,

not breaking?

Is it really more than I should ask for?

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