Don’t Kill Me Before I Die

Don’t kill me before I die

Don’t carve your absence into me

And call it love

I’ve already lost enough

Names I used to answer to

Rooms I used to stand in

Versions of myself

That didn’t know how to run

I’m still trying to live

In the body I was given

In the story I’m still writing

With hands that shake

But won’t let go

If you see me fading

Don’t push

If you see me breaking

Don’t press harder

If you see me quiet

Don’t mistake it for surrender

I’m gathering myself

I’m stitching back the parts

That life tried to scatter

I’m learning how to breathe

Without asking permission

So don’t kill me before I die

Don’t take the last light

I’m fighting to keep

Let me walk to my own ending

On my own feet

In my own time

With my own name still burning