"shallow breaths"

i wrote this last week after an uncomfortable conversation with a relative...

shallow breaths

you were in for a shock today
i finally came out and told you
what i've been wanting to say

it's not that i don't love you
or respect you any less
it's just that i've been hiding
breathing shallow breaths

i know i projected what you wanted to see
i know it was cowardly of me
i know you went along
because it made you feel more comfortable
but we both knew the day would come
when i'd render myself unable
to prolong the act
so i took what i could back
and left you standing in my kitchen

but see it's not that i don't love you
or respect you any less
it's just that i've been hiding
breathing shallow breaths

this whole time i've been withholding
unbeknownst to you
a million little embers of me
sparks of truth

this whole time i've been smoldering
unbeknownst to you
a million little embers of me
sparks of truth

even still it's not that i don't love you
or respect you any less
it's just that i've been hiding
breathing shallow breaths