Surviving Heartbreak

Child's Heart

I believe I have a heart that loves like a child.
Not innocent, no—
but when I love, it's true love.
Unwavering, all-encompassing,
and that's why letting go feels
like tearing pages from a story
I so desperately want to finish.

When you first kissed me,
I saw a chance—
for love,
for marriage,
for children,
for dogs.
For the kind of ending
that lights up the silver screen,
where love is eternal
and happy ever afters bloom.

But there were no happy ever afters
for my parents.
Not for the pages of my favorite books
or the lives in my beloved shows.
And certainly,
not for me.

When will I learn
to let go of this fantasy?
I was a little girl once,
watching elders at restaurants,
their hands wrinkled,
yet intertwined,
as if time itself
couldn't erode their bond.
I watched my grandad sacrifice
everything for my grandma,
in the name of love.
Whether it was right or wrong
never mattered.

Then suddenly,
I was grown.
Faced with big girl choices,
and bitter truths—
that happy ever afters
are often just that,
a dream.

As you and I spent our time together,
I cherished it.
Every laugh, every glance.
But time was not our friend.
It ended,
and I watched you leave—
again and again.
Like a fool,
I waited for you to return each time.

But no matter the chances,
you could never love me
the way I dreamed to be loved.
And that isn't entirely your fault.
It's my childlike heart,
my stubborn, hopeful brain,
that still believes
in magic and fate
and all the things
that make true love everlasting.

I just wish
this little voice in my head—
the one that whispers
you'll do something magical,
that you'll come back—
would quiet itself.
Because life isn't a movie,
and not everyone gets
their happy ever afters.

If you were going to be mine,
you already would be.
So, I'm begging that voice to stop hoping,
just for a moment.
To let me see the world as it is—
not as I wish it could be.

—MistakenGenius