The Night I stopped Crying

She grew up learning to stay silent,
while backlashes followed her through school corridors
and college benches like unwanted shadows.
She smiled anyway-because strength was expected, not comfort.
Then love arrived like poetry.
A gentleman with kind eyes, gentle words,
someone who felt like safety after storms.
She trusted him, the way broken people trust hope.
But love slowly changed its face.
The gentleman became a stranger-
his care turned into control,
his concern into cages she never saw being built.
She didn't recognize the poison at first.
Toxicity never knocks loudly;
it whispers, wears romance,
and calls pain "love."
One day, she chose herself.
Not because it was easy,
but because surviving meant letting go.
She didn't give up on him-
she gave up on losing herself.