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Poetry by Rowan Evans

Tag: relationship poetry

  • I Don’t Need You – A Poem About Chosen Love and Independence

    Rowan Evans

    Author’s Note

    To the reader:

    This poem is a meditation on choice, autonomy, and intimacy. It’s about standing whole, unshaken, and still choosing to love someone—not because we need them, but because we want them. The lines explore that delicate balance between independence and desire, between survival and longing.

    It is a celebration of being complete in oneself while recognizing that closeness, when chosen freely, amplifies life rather than diminishes it.
    This piece is for anyone who has ever loved fiercely while remaining unbroken.

    — Rowan Evans

    “Silhouetted figure in twilight holding a glowing thread toward a distant figure, representing choice, independence, and intimate connection.”
    ‘I Don’t Need You’ – Choosing love from strength, not need. A poem by Rowan Evans.

    I Don’t Need You
    Poetry by Rowan Evans

    I don’t need you.
    I can breathe on my own—
    lungs have done it for decades
    without asking permission.

    I don’t need you.
    I can sleep alone,
    learn the shape of empty sheets,
    make peace with the cold side of the bed.

    I don’t need you
    to make me whole.
    I arrived here intact—
    scarred, yes,
    but assembled by my own hands.

    I don’t need your voice
    to steady me,
    your name
    to keep the dark from biting.
    I’ve survived worse silences
    than your absence.

    I don’t need you
    to save me.
    I am not drowning.
    I am not broken.
    I am not waiting
    to be rescued.

    But—

    I don’t want to breathe
    without you knowing the rhythm of it.
    I don’t want sleep
    that doesn’t reach for you
    out of habit, out of hope.

    I don’t want a life
    where your laughter
    isn’t stitched into my days,
    where love is only something
    I prove I can live without.

    I can.
    I know that.

    But I don’t want to.

    I want you—
    not as oxygen,
    not as shelter,
    not as a missing piece—

    but as the one
    I choose
    while standing steady,
    while whole,
    while free.

    I don’t need you.

    I just
    want you
    here.

    If you’re interested in more poetry, you can find it here → [The Library of Ashes]

  • Love Is Choice: A Manifesto on Real, Intentional Love by Rowan Evans

    Rowan Evans

    Introduction

    Recently, I’ve seen a lot of people online talking about love—what it is, what it should be and what it feels like. A lot of it makes it sound like love should be a fairytale, or something effortless. I wanted to share my own take: what love really is, from my perspective. This is my manifesto.

    Silhouettes of two people standing side by side, hands nearly touching, bathed in warm sunrise light, representing devotion and choice in love.
    Love is not effortless—it is choice, presence, and devotion, alive in everyday moments.

    Love Is Choice: A Manifesto
    Manifesto by Rowan Evans

    Love is not a fairytale.
    It is not magic, destiny, or some effortless, perfect emotion that simply exists.
    Love is work.
    Love is patience.
    Love is showing up, again and again, even when it is hard, even when it is mundane, even when it is inconvenient.

    Love is choice.
    It is the decision to walk beside someone, to carry their weight with them—not instead of them, but alongside them.
    It is the conscious commitment to witness, honor, and respond to who they are, fully, unedited, and without trying to fix what isn’t broken.

    Love is active.
    It is listening when words are hard to find.
    It is staying present when life shakes everything apart.
    It is forgiving, learning, compromising, and holding space without judgment.

    Love is honest.
    It does not gloss over pain or disappointment.
    It does not pretend every moment is blissful or effortless.
    It sees the darkness, acknowledges it, and chooses to stay.
    It sees the light, celebrates it, and nurtures it.

    Love is courageous.
    It is daring to be vulnerable, to give your heart fully without demanding repayment.
    It is resisting the temptation to escape when the weight is heavy, the storm is loud, or the moment is uncomfortable.
    It is understanding that enduring love is not measured by feeling, but by action.

    Love is sacred.
    It is not about ownership, perfection, or control.
    It is about respect, devotion, and the sacred trust that comes from seeing someone in their entirety and still choosing them.

    Love is worth the ache.
    The effort is not a burden—it is proof of devotion.
    The work is not punishment—it is a labor of care.
    The challenges are not failures—they are the evidence that love is real.

    Love is choice.
    Love is effort.
    Love is presence.
    Love is not a fairytale—but it is extraordinary, transformative, and alive in the everyday, ordinary moments that are shared with intention.

    If you’re looking for more poetry, you can find it here → [The Library of Ashes]