The Whittler and the Wood

There was a woman in the wood

With tired eyes and open hands

She learned to give before she knew

A heart could make its own demands

She carved a smile from her own face

And handed it to someone cold

Then wondered why she felt so small

When she was only trying to hold

A piece for every “please don’t leave”

A piece for every silent room

A piece for every time her voice

Got swallowed by the moon

All she wanted was to feel loved

Not halfway held, not almost enough

So she whittled herself down

For anyone who’d stay around

Till all that stood where she once stood

Was the whittler and the wood

All she wanted was a hand

That didn’t take more than it gave

But she kept shaving off her soul

Trying to make somebody stay

She gave her warmth to empty arms

Gave her body to be seen

Mistook the taking for a touch

Mistook the wanting for a dream

And when they vanished in the dark

Left her calling through the trees

She felt her voice go quiet again

Like childhood memories

A splinter for the ones who lied

A shaving for the ones who left

A pile of all the little ways

She learned to hold her breath

All she wanted was to feel loved

Not halfway held, not almost enough

So she whittled herself down

For anyone who’d stay around

Till all that stood where she once stood

Was the whittler and the wood

All she wanted was a hand

That didn’t take more than it gave

But she kept shaving off her soul

Trying to make somebody stay

Then one night she saw the mirror

And it didn’t know her name

Just a floor of broken pieces

And a heart still full of blame

But somewhere in the silence

She heard her own voice say

“You don’t have to disappear

To prove that love should stay”

All she wanted was to feel loved

But love should never cost that much

So she gathered up the splinters

And held them like they still were enough

No more carving out her soul

No more bleeding just to stay

She was never only kindling

She was fire anyway

All she wanted was to feel loved

Now she’s learning that she could

Be more than what they took from her

The whittler and the wood