Needing Him To Need Me

By Zenia Haley

He needs a calm girl,

I'm not calm.

He needs a quiet girl,

I'm not quiet.

He needs something I'm not,

But I want him.

So I make myself what he needs,

But does that mean I'm losing myself?

I want to be what he needs and more.

I want to be his peace and blessings.

I want to be the only thing he craves.

I want to help him succeed.

I want to be his support.

I want to be his sweet dream plus his nightmare.

After a bad dream I want him to come to me.

I want to be his safe space,

But I can't be any of that.

He needs a calm girl,

I'm not calm.

He needs a quiet girl,

I'm not quiet.

You ask him what he needs,

He will say he doesn't know.

You ask him what is peace,

He will say he doesn't know.

Well, let me tell you what he does know:

He knows that I'm not calm or quiet,

So he tolerates me.

He laughs at my jokes when they aren't funny.

He looks at me and tells me I'm pretty.

He makes me feel like this is my world and he’s just living in it.

But this should be the other way around.

If you ask me,

This is his world and I’m just happy to be here.

I can teach myself to be calm and quiet;

I can teach myself to be what he needs.

He needs a girl that's calm and quiet.

I'm not calm or quiet.

About the Author

Zenia Haley, Miles College

Zenia Haley is a senior at Miles College majoring in Psychology. I'm from Montgomery, Al and I currently reside in Fairfield Al. I'm currently working on a poetry book called "Just Rambling", that is coming out in June.