My tenderness. Even if, in some way some how, I forget how to love, I want to hold someone's hand & have them feel the warmth of another. I can't call myself compassionate or empathetic necessarily, but neither can I claim to be harmful by default; I would rather sand down my teeth blunt flat, than to risk hurting those I hold dear.

Some have deemed me weak for this, & truly, it's a privilege to be capable of gentleness in a world so cruel. I have support to fall back on in harm's way, but it wasn't always this way. Many dismiss that I can afford to be tender because I know how to protect myself.