Was Any of it Real?

Was any of it real?

I think back…

to how it all began.

The flirtation.

The presence.

The care

gentle, deliberate.

A slow recruiting,

into something

I thought was connection…

but turned out to be

the final nail

sealing my soul.

The red flags

I saw them.

I just chose not to.

Gave you the benefit of doubt,

out of respect,

out of belief

that people mean well.

But now,

as I sit here

connecting the dots 

I see it for what it was.

I wasn’t a choice.

I was a move.

Another pawn

in your game of chess.

I hope you got what you wanted.

Truly.

Because life has a funny way

of circling back.

And what you give 

you always get back.

Equal,

or more.

Unbecoming

I grieved

not the end,

but the unbecoming of me.

Love unraveled,

trust thinned to air,

belief scattered like dust in rain.

Nothing was mine to hold,

and yet,

I stood

breathing through the spin,

learning the stillness in surrender.

What was lost

was not my wholeness

only the version of me

that forgot I could begin again.

Now,

I walk the quiet road,

toughened by consequence,

softened by grace,

becoming

again.

Behind the Man

It enters first.

Before the man.

Before the thought.

A glance in the mirror.

Not at the face

at the applause rehearsed behind it.

Every word scripted.

Every silence a performance.

The room tilts,

not around truth,

but around the voice

that must have the last word

even if the joke isn’t funny.

Ego does not shout.

It stage-whispers.

It clears its throat.

It feeds on the nod,

the nervous laugh,

the polite “so true.”

And when it leaves

the man remains,

smaller than before,

like the punchline

without the joke.

Reckless

Have we forgotten

the weight of being human?

In our rush to win,

we lose what matters.

Love fades

in the noise of survival.

We wound,

without thought,

and call it coping.

Do we ever pause

before we break

another’s peace

to heal our own?

In the Rush

Do we still value humanity?

In our race to succeed,

have we forgotten

that life is fragile

and precious?

Do we remember love

in our chase for survival?

Why so careless

with another’s heart?

Do we think of consequence

when we gamble

with our own lives?

The pain we leave behind,

the chaos we set free

can we really rest

after shattering another’s peace

to quiet our own storms?

What a Difference a Day Makes

Once, it was marked in bold,

a date circled in promise,

dressed in vows

and borrowed hope.

But years have stripped it bare.

Now September passes quietly,

no trumpets, no weight,

just another square

on the calendar.

What was unforgettable

is forgettable.

What was sacred

is ordinary.

The vows dissolved,

the words unkept,

forever proved

to be a fragile thing.

And just like that,

this day no longer matters.

It comes,

it goes,

like any other,

taking nothing with it

but the memory

of how easily meaning fades.

Through the Silence

I lost myself,

progressively.

One wrong turn,

and life unfolded.

Betrayal and lies

left their scars,

yet courage rose,

strength held firm,

even as criticism

tried to break me.

I was gutted by loss,

first my parents,

then a storm of turmoil

that pulled me apart,

leaving me distant

from family,

and everyone

I trusted blindly.

I sit 

in the stillness,

asking…

why those I trusted most

could let me fall

so easily.

Yet, somewhere within,

a flame remains.

Not fierce,

but steady.

It teaches the heart

to release what broke it,

and walk forward,

lighter than before.