Boundaries

this morning, toxins
reached cumulative levels

I can do melancholy
with the best of them,

but I'm desperate for
an emotional ipecac;
I can't stomach you

you rant a pointless rage,
tell me what-it-is,
preach the as-i-see-it gospel,
diss on, disregard, dismiss

you stop me right there, cause
you've lost interest in the story,
do an about-face to school me
with a self-declared loving intention
that feels like punishment

I won't allow it any longer;
my push back more
instinctual of late,
lines drawn impenetrable

you, one more lesson that
I need not suffer to love;
that I've learned - independent
of anything you could ever tell me