Surviving co-dependence

I’m done with co-dependence or so I say I’ve burnt so many effigies for others I’m the giver in my codependency The taker burns all my oxygen She used to grant just a puff to breathe Her flame used to light up this scarecrow Marvel at how a selfless breath ignites Like burning man sweating gasoline This burning man has to stop combustion Radical self-expression must break it The man who is a caretaker but for himself The taker who needs others to care Both with a hole in their chest Born from a childhood interrupted Stop running around looking for a match Perhaps the match won’t look for straws The giver parents others but not himself The taker remains a hungry child Only unconditional love will quiet children Both with gaping mouths unfed a lifetime Only love will feed their hunger Stop the semaphore crying SOS Stop fulfilling others when empty Stop selling my heart for pennies I am a beacon for the takers I now cover my lighthouse I could say light does not draw moths But they see the sun through my hole I hunger for someone’s cork I wait for a blackout from a storm That would be running from my post Effigies tell me abandonment does no good I could say that I’m done burning my Man Co-dependence is natural as survival Parasitic or symbiotic is the key to life The best is mutualism for both parties If parameciums can do it with algae Why can’t I be fit to exist? I’ll hide this giving heart Till I find one worthy to depend upon