Until you learn to love yourself

Until you learn to love yourself
you will keep going on dates with people
who sit across from you and never look up long enough to see you.

They will ask to touch you, not because they care
but because your body is easier to understand than your truth.
They will read you like braille, hands searching for meaning while your heart stays untranslated.

They will remember your skin, the warmth, the way you gave yourself away gently
and they will forget your name, as if it was never worth learning, in the first place.

You will leave their houses quietly ,collecting your things, collecting your dignity
like someone leaving a job interview, smiling politely, while knowing the answer has already been decided.

Do not call us, We will call you.

And you will nod, as if rejection does not echo in your chest
as if your worth was not just placed on hold.

But one day, you will choose yourself.
You will love yourself loudly, without permission, without apology.

And when that happens, you will stop sitting with people
who only want access to your body and start choosing those, who learn your name first, who say it carefully, like something sacred.