The rant

Do not offend me
I am them; I am they
I am she; I am he
I am known; I am mystery
I am myself; I am not myself

I do not know who I am

Do not offend me
I am ageing; I am youthful
I am ageless; I am growing

I’m vibrant; I am weary
I am wounded; I am healing
I am poorly; I am trying

I do not know what I am doing

Do not offend me
I am beauty; I’m unfolding
I am confidence in the shadows

I am trickling potential, longing to water fall
Proving to myself how I proved it to the world

The why

If you offend me
I will take you and our memories
Which I’ll no longer share
I will put you in a box
Wrap it in black tape
And send it to the box
The ‘nothing’ box
Of my recollections

If you offend me
You’ll be nothing! Nothing,
But that which gives offence
And nothing you’ll remain,
Until I may delight
In your contrite assuagement

The how

To not offend me
Know everything I know, and everything I might
Know how I’ve responded; how I might respond
Know what pierces me; what pieces me together

To not offend me
Be beautiful; be strong
Be knowledgeable; be perfect
Be compassionate; empathetic
Be healed, oh be healed
Wholly, healed.

You must not bring wounds of your own

To not offend me, O perfect one,
Anticipate my journey
All the sparkles; all the blisters
Especially the blisters

And don’t, poke them
And don’t, point at them
And don’t, acknowledge them

But to commend my valiance

A world without offence you see
Is mine to every degree
And it all depends on you

So, long, feel, think, respond, create, enjoy, be
But only be that, which offends me not.

A summary

Now that you know how, O generous one
Predict who I am
Anticipate my idiosyncrasies
Uphold my point of view
Celebrate my person-hood

Until you, do not offend me

The resolution

Do not offend me, O friendly one
Or we are not friends
Unless I; yes I
Relinquish my entitlements
Till I grow into me enough
And into your world a little

To seek above offence:

The cubic mile of our parallels
The tapering gradient to our convergence
The momentary point of our intersection

There, for mutual connection
I will trade my right
To be offended