When I’m ready

But I’m not ready to be your wife,

and I don’t understand the part where I have to be silent to 

Please you or any other human being too afraid

To peer through their own shadows.

I’m only twelve years old, I’m not ready to be a wife.

I’m not ready to be your wife. Find a woman your age, around your age,

Who’s ready and willing to hold the weight of your stench. 

I am not the one and I am not ready to commit to

A lifetime of derailed breaths. I will not be able to speak until I’m ready.