Epiphany

🥀

They came with smiles and open hands,
Promises spun like gold, glistening in the sun.
"I'll be there," they said,
In joy, in sorrow, in the cracks of despair.
But promises are lighter than air,
And just as easy to break.

For when the road turned rough,
When the stars no longer shone,
I looked to my left,
I reached to my right-
But their hands had long since slipped away,
Like sand through my fingers.

They left when the light dimmed,
When the laughter stopped echoing in the halls.
They turned their backs when the rain began,
Taking their empty words with them,
Gone without a second glance.

"I'll be there," they said.
But where are they now,
When the storm rages?
Where are they when the walls crumble,
And I am left standing alone,
With nothing but the weight of their broken promises?

Loyalty, they said.
Friendship, they said.
But loyalty is fragile in the hands of those who only love the sun,
Who bask in the warmth but flee the cold.
They love you until loving you becomes hard,
And then they leave,
Like whispers lost in the wind.

I've seen them go-
Each one, at their own time,
At their own convenience.
They took the best pieces of me,
And left behind the ruins.

But you know what? Let them go.
No-I want them to run.
Run like the cowards they are,
Run when the weight of me becomes too much for their fragile hearts.
I don't need them.
I never did.

I want them to see what happens when they turn their backs,
When they walk away with their hollow promises,
Thinking I'll break.
Thinking I'll fall apart.

Let them run,
Let them abandon what they cannot handle.
Because I won't bend,
I won't shatter under the weight of their absence.

No, I stand stronger.
I'm glad they left.
They were dead weight-
Nothing but whispers in the wind,
Faint echoes of promises that meant nothing.

And when the silence came,
When the echoes of their voices faded into nothing,
I turned to the only one who's always been there.
The one who never flinched,
Who never turned away.

There, in the mirror, I saw it.
Familiar, unwavering, constant-
My own reflection.

It stood there, through it all,
Watching as they came and went,
Watching as the light in my eyes dimmed,
As the smile fell from my lips.
And yet, it never moved.
It never left.

"They will always leave," a voice whispered,
"But I will not. Through every storm, through every fall,
I will remain."

It wasn't their voices I needed anymore-
It wasn't their fleeting loyalty.
For when the dust settled,
When the world was quiet and empty,
I still had myself.

Let them fucking go.
Let them turn away.
I don't need their weak-hearted words,
Their fair-weather friendship.

They turned their backs? Good.
I want them to.
I want them to see what it looks like to stand without them.
I don't need them.
I've never needed anyone but me.

And when they're gone,
When the noise dies down,
I turn to the only thing that ever stayed.
In the reflection of my own eyes,
I see the loyalty they could never offer.

They left, as they always do.
But my reflection stood strong,
Through the chaos,
Through the grief,
Through the bitter taste of betrayal.

They turned their backs,
But my reflection never did.
It was there in the joy and the sorrow,
In the moments of triumph and defeat.
Always there,
Always watching,
Always waiting.

I no longer needed their words,
Their hollow promises,
For I had found the one thing that would never leave me.
In the reflection of my own eyes,
I found the loyalty I sought,
The strength they could never muster.

Let them go,
Let them run.
For I am all I need.
In this world of broken oaths and fleeting hearts,
I have learned that the only one who stays
Is the one staring back at me in the mirror.

They may leave,

But I will remain,
Unshaken,
Unbreakable,
And forever by my side.
🖤