Don’t Hand Them Your Fire

Some people walk in carrying thunderclouds Looking for another sky to own Every conversation bends around them Till your own voice feels unknown Every spark you offer for the darkness They feed it to the endless night You keep pouring from your cup of kindness Till there’s nothing left inside You can love somebody from a distance You can wish them well and still be free Every garden has a fence for a reason Every river chooses where it meets the sea Don’t hand them your fire Don’t hand them your flame You don’t owe your sunlight To every shadow calling your name Wish them peace on their journey Wish them strength for the road But don’t carry their burden If they won’t carry their own Some folks make a home inside a crisis Wear their sorrow like a crown Every answer becomes another problem Every ladder gets kicked down You can sit beside a hurting neighbor Help them find their feet again But if they only come to take and take and take You don’t have to call that friend You can love somebody from a distance You can wish them well and still be free Every garden has a fence for a reason Every river chooses where it meets the sea Don’t hand them your fire Don’t hand them your flame You don’t owe your sunlight To every shadow calling your name Wish them peace on their journey Wish them strength for the road But don’t carry their burden If they won’t carry their own No anger No hatred No need to fight Just quiet boundaries Like stone walls in moonlight No bitterness No revenge Just a gate that closes softly When the giving never ends The oak tree doesn’t chase the woodcutter The bee can’t save every dying flower The earth gives freely to the willing But even nature knows its power Don’t hand them your fire Guard the roots below The tree that survives the winter Is the tree that learns to grow Wish them healing Wish them grace But leave enough light within you To illuminate your own place Some people drink from every river And still complain they’re dry So tend your garden carefully And let the seasons decide.