I Can Take It

Spit it out.

Don't cover it up.

Don't coat it in sugar,

I am tough.
I can take it.

This soul has been 

through the ringer

twenty times over 

and LIVED to tell the tale.

I've been battered

and bruised.

Used & abused,

downhearted,

downtrodden,

scraped,

even lacerated,
I've nearly bled out.

I can take it.

I'm sick of seeming

fragile.

Don't get me wrong,

I am gentle,

On occasion.

I've even been called

sweet.

I'm not coarse,

just weathered.

My point is this:

There is 

NOTHING

you can tell me 

that will be 

too much for me

to handle.

I can take it.

I'm tough. 

I'm...grown-up-stuff.

(Poem inspired by the following image.)