Want/Need

I would rather be wanted, than needed.

Neediness reeks of desperation, loss of control, weakness.

That is not what I want to see in your eyes when you look at me.

Don’t need me. 

Your need is the suffocating heat weighing heavily on my chest in the middle of a barren desert.

Your need is a small and dark place that leaves me scrambling…

          for the open sky,

               for a cool breeze in my hair,

                    for pavement passing swiftly beneath my feet.

Don’t imprison me with your need… hands grasping, voice begging.

Don’t need me. 

Want me.

Want me for who I am…

Not what I am to you. 

Not for what you think you need me to be.

Let me walk away….

     and revel in the joy you will feel if I choose to return.

*** Originally published as a guest post at Princess Prose ***