Do not try to save me
I am not some helpless victim
for you to sweep me off my feet
I am not the damsel in distress,
tied to the train tracks in those
black and white movies
If you try to save me,
do not expect a thank you
I am capable
of being my own hero

Do not try to rescue me
My destiny is nothing I can control,
and nothing you can control either
I do everything that I do
for a reason
Why I do them is no business of yours

Do not try to deliver me from evil
What force could derail me
from where I am going?
I have so much to lose
and so little to gain
from giving into the bad

Do not try to salvage my heart
I assure you that it is not lost
or broken
On the contrary,
It has never pulsed so strongly before

Do not try to offer me an escape
There is no point
in offering me a way out
An escape from reality
is not what I need
What I need is a way
to force myself back in
And I will not receive that
from you

Do not try to assist me
in redeeming myself
It is of my own strength
that I will accomplish this feat
What I believe needs redeeming
differs from your ideals
Your opinion means nothing
on my road to salvation
Only mine

Do not try to relieve me
of my burdens
It is these weights that reflect
on who I am
They will be lightened with time,
not by any assistance from you

Do not try to control me
I am my own person
I am not a hybrid of what others
want
What is best for me
is not what is best for you,
no matter how you delude yourself
into thinking so
And who are you
to decide what is best for me?

Do not try to offer me a hand
when I have been knocked down
I will not learn anything from falling
if I am only picked back up
like a ragdoll
It is from below
where I can find perspective
Watch me be knocked down
a number of times
I will always stand up once more

Do not try and rid me of my past
My past tells my story
It speaks for me when I cannot speak
for myself
It can never fully be erased
There will always be traces of it
in me,
and in my history
It will always be a part of me
Nothing can change that

Do not try to fix me
Because I am not broken