Co-Dependent

I was a ship on a voyage
You were my anchor
Slowing me down,
Stopping me if needed be

I was the flowing paper
In the office with the ajar window
And you were my nifty paperweight

I backpedalled and turned into a needy infant
And you were the breast I needed to wean from

I was the body
That filled the recliner
And you asked me, “how far back?”
I was the house
And you were the protective yard dog
Ready to jump if I said, “attack!”

I was the ceiling
And you were the columns
Carrying my weight
Never allowing me to cave in
And as they walked on me
You tried to teach me to trust the walls
You tried to tell me the wall wouldn’t let me fall

I was the obese
And you were my savior
Of an emotional eater
Fuck it
I’ll admit it
I was the addict
And you were my drug
Dope feigning my way through life
But it was okay
It was you who I loved

You were my confidence
Because I believed everything you said
You were my hope
Because you were everything that I had dreamt
And with every word that I said
Every phonetic was deeply and sincerely meant

And you made a decision
You cut me with such careful precision
And quickly I became kin to an elderly on life-support
And you were my
Automated external defibrillator
Sending an electrical shock to my faint heart

But you cut me off

So I had to learn how to breathe again
Had to pump blood through my lower ventricles
To my upper atriums
And out of my aorta
And teach my heart how to beat again
I had to open my eyes
And adjust my vision
I had to learn how to see again
Q-tip to my ears
I had to clear way
So I can begin to listen
I had to confide in my knowing voice
I had to speak up, speak loud
I had to learn how to speak again
I had to trust in the nearest wall
Long enough for me to lean on
And learn how to walk again
One foot in front of the other
Building the muscles in my feeble legs
Enough to carry me through
And on my own
I had to do it alone.