I am not you, I said, please let me take my turn,
You need to give me space to breathe, I said,
I need to use my life to learn.

I cannot know my mind, when you guide my every thought,
I cannot grow beyond the walls,
Of this impenetrable fort.

I cannot burst my way out of your containing bubble,
I cannot be safe, I said, without understanding trouble.

I feel I cannot move, without receiving judgment or advice,
I feel I cannot breathe inside your all encompassing vice.

Just as you were growing, she said, I was growing too,
Growing into someone who was learning how to parent you.