Surviving Heartbreak

Love, Kept Gently

All I've ever wanted from you,
Was to know that our goodbye
Didn't mean the end of us—
That love wasn't a line drawn in the sand.
No matter the way we ended,
No matter how much love there was, or wasn't,
I needed to know that I meant something,
And you, too, meant something to me.

And somehow, a year and a half later,
We spoke like we used to—
Not to rekindle what we lost,
Not to test our boundaries,
But to simply be human.
I shared my news,
You shared yours,
And for the first time in a long while,
I was happy to hear your voice,
To hear your laugh again,
To know our inside jokes still exist.

Love was there,
But not the kind that demands to return.
I don't want it back,
But maybe I'm lying to myself—
I don't know what I want,
I only know the ache I felt
When you left,
The heartbreak I thought would end me.
But life went on.

I don't blame you—
Not really.
But I don't know if I could go back,
No matter how much I loved you.
You were my first love,
And I'll probably tell my children about you,
Or our children, if life decides
To bring us back together.
But you were also my biggest change,
My biggest heartbreak.

I can never forget the pain,
The countless times I cut my hair
To get rid of "dead ends"
That weren't just in my hair.
And now, a year and a half later,
I realize I've moved on.
I'm no longer in love with you,
But if fate allows,
I know I would fall for you again,
And that, I simply cannot have.

Life is good now,
And I know it was good with you, too,
But you left,
And I dealt with the consequences.
Forever loving you,
But never the same way again.

— MistakenGenius