I Give

I sacrificed

A home, a family, a life

I'd planned,

It was so far from perfect

But it was MINE…

And now you tell me

You never fully

loved

me?

///

I tried to understand,

Tried to be there

To support

To be everything

You could ever want,

While I shrank

Smaller and smaller

Into something you

Could trust,

Until there was

Almost nothing left

For either of us

Of what makes me

Who I am.

///

I asked

(for the first time)

For what I needed,

Trying to make my requests

Tiny, reasonable:

Don't hurt me?

Don't take me

Down, stop threatening,

Please?

But even these

Were too much,

So I gave

And gave,

Trying to save,

Trying to be

Something you could

Hold dear,

And when I finally turned,

I saw

nothing.

So

I

gave

up.

///

Now, I pull myself

Out of this hole

I dug,

Strain my back

To climb

Into the Light

And wonder how

I put up with so little

For so long.

And I realize…

You were

Right.

///

You warned me that

You had issues,

That I deserved better,

Said I should give up.

I, in my misplaced

Hero complex,

Took it as a

Challenge.

I should have

Known better,

To listen to the

Words you say.

I suppose

It was partially

My fault.

(but

fuck you,

anyway).