Building a Wall

You ask why this wall has formed between us.

I say it’s teenage angst but in truth,

I’m scared.

Scared that without this wall,

the lines will start to blur.

That I won’t know where you stop and I begin.

Where your dreams have ended and where mine have begun.

Because you see, sometimes

The distinctions aren’t so clear and I’m lost.

I feel like a bird whose wings have been clipped;

no matter how hard I try to take flight,

I can’t.

I’m treading water but

your dreams, hopes, and ambitions are golden weights

They seem like my own, shiny and alluring,

yet they slowly drag me down.

I love you.

I can’t bear to tell you this in person because

I know it will hurt you, but

without this wall

without this distance

I won’t ever fly free.