Take Me Raw

I Asked for it

don’t you know I’ve wanted it?
haven’t you noticed?
I’ve been leaning toward it
since I could stand on my own feet

time,
stop pretending you’re gentle.

don’t brush past me like a polite stranger.
collide with me.
break the glass.

I’m not here for soft mornings
and lukewarm chances.

I want the seconds that bruise.
the deadlines that snarl.
the kind of days that leave my hands shaking
from holding too much sky.

pressure me.

tighten around my ribs
until I can feel my pulse
pounding against the cage.

I don’t want a slow drift.
I want velocity.

throw me into the hours
that don’t apologize.
the nights that split open
and demand something honest.

every failure -
let it land heavy.

every door slammed -
let it echo.

I will not fold.

I want the friction.
the spark when ambition
scrapes against doubt.

burn me sharper.

stretch me thin
across the edge of what I thought
I could survive.

I don’t want comfort.
I want expansion.

time,
you ruthless architect -

build me with your harsh blueprints.
carve me with your ticking teeth.

your passing is not theft.
it’s ignition.

every scar you leave
is a contour line
on the map of who I become.

so press harder.

accelerate.

I will not beg you to slow.

I will stand in the current,
laughing as it roars past,
because I was never meant
to be preserved.

I was meant
to be forged.