This poem is for you.
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You wore kindness in the corner of your smile almost constantly and I was unfamiliarly in awe of you for it. You had emotion sewed to each of your sleeves, handing out validation with every interaction, posting ‘thank you’s in envelopes and leaving comfort at people’s doors.
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You radiated the kind of goodness most people dream of finding in a person. I locked all your flaws away, sunk the safe, melted the key. Because doesn’t compassion outweigh everything else? Does anything else matter when you breathed in the sort of gentleness others had become completely devoid of?
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This thank you is for you. Gratitude scrawled on a homemade card. Thank you, for giving me what I thought was unattainable, faux, nonexistent. Friendship.
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Thank you, for making me completely and utterly believe it could last forever, even if it couldn’t (not with you).
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I’m sorry. I said nothing would stop me from protecting your heart, but I draw the line at standing in front of the gun.
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I’m sorry. I watched your incomparable humanity evaporate, bit by bit, each day. I grasped empty air, jumped off high places trying to get it back for you. But the only way was to give up my own heart, and I will never lose myself in order to find someone. I will never break in order to heal someone. Never destroy myself in order to save someone. Not again.
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This apology is for you. A note left in the sand, rapidly washing away with the tide. I’m sorry, for resenting the person you became. I’m sorry her face fills me with ice when yours was what warmed me.
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This poem, this piece of my heart is for you. Tied in ribbon, carried up and up and up by a helium balloon. Ascending on acceptance’s wings.
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I’m sorry, for finally moving on, when I swore I never would. (But you promised you would never become what you have.)
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If I could give you anything, it would be happiness. If not that, then your kindness back. But I’ll have to settle for this instead: forgiveness.
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Reminder: Only two days left to submit your entries for Poppy’s Prompts #2 - February Edition.
Comments (15)
Wow! Powerful! Beautifully written!
Wow, this was incredibly moving. Made me think back on all of my relationships and what it means to show self-love and create boundaries. Gorgeous work, Poppy :)
A note left in the sand, rapidly washing away with the tide. That line spoke so much to me. Reading your words took me back through a journey of every time my heart was broken. Beautiful prose
Ooh I absolutely adore this. "This apology is for you. A note left in the sand, rapidly washing away with the tide. I’m sorry, for resenting the person you became. I’m sorry her face fills me with ice when yours was what warmed me." What do you do when people change like this? Is there even a right answer? I feel this poem fills in a void in humanity. What a treat this was to read, my friend. I've never been more encouraged by a poem.
"I will never break in order to heal someone. Never destroy myself in order to save someone. Not again" This line hit me closer to home than I think you'll ever fully understand. I've given too much of myself away too many times and now struggle to let anyone even get close. Thank you for this poem, Poppy. It was amazingly written and deeply touching
"I will never break in order to heal someone. Never destroy myself in order to save someone. Not again" I need to repeat those lines like a mantra and make sure I follow it as well! This was so powerful and I absolutely loved it!
Setting boundaries is always hardest with those you expect to respect them. Sorry for your loss; congratulations on your freedom.
Wow, I hope it this poem is for a specific person, that they get to read it.
Wow!!😮 Beautifully written sentiments. ‘I could give you anything, it would be happiness. If not that, then your kindness back. But I’ll have to settle for this instead: forgiveness.’✅
"Not again." The words that broke my heart & drew me completely into this world of love lost, kindness forsaken, forgiveness granted whether received or not.
Many a somber smile with this one Poppy. Could feel the trudges through grief grown into empowerment and learning to love ones self. Beautiful!! 🤍🤍🤍
For me? I think it's for everyone. Thanks.
And now that I've read it, I have to say how powerful this piece is! Beautifully done!
Before I read this, I have to mention that the notification read, "Poppy published an new story for you." How special is that? lol
Maybe it’s just because I’m currently dealing with a very tense friendship, but this gave me all the OOFs. You have such a gift for peeling away the surface of a complex dynamic and peering down into the well of feeling below. Ugh love this and vibe with it so hard.