Xx

I traced the patterns of your being

your feelings, your habits,

the quiet ways you moved through the world.

I paid attention.

Not to change you,

but to understand—

and often,

to carry what you could not hold,

no matter the cost to me.

I held it tenderly,

offered it back in open hands,

so you might feel,

if only for a moment,

the comfort of being fully accepted.

This moment is no different.

Even now,

as you turn away from the ache,

refusing to sit with it…

with me, with yourself…

I feel it all

the ways we’ve avoided the pain,

we once promised to share.

Still, I knew what was coming

long before you allowed it to surface.

I no longer choose

to hold this gently.

Now I raise it up,

not in anger,

but in clarity.

showing it to you/

I hope you find renewal in the depths of your despair. Much like I will have to.