Something to Lose

A Poem

Photo by Luise and Nic on Unsplash

someone once said to me
i’d never be loved the way i wanted,
and i carried that scar with me so long
that it’s become a fixture in my wandering life.

rose petal promises never mattered
because they always withered with time,
but i thought someday i might see
someone else worth fighting for.

but the years passed
and new loves came and left
while i stood inside my own hourglass
as time began to trickle away inch by inch.

i’m so much older now, but am i wiser?

my foolish heart taught me so many things,
but i never managed to take the right actions
that might have made so much difference
in letting me cross from lonely to content.

i watched the wildflowers bloom again
at our old summer spot behind the theater,
but i knew they were really just weeds
that were far too stubborn to die.

it’s been ages since that long-ago July,
but i finally realize now that letting go
was the…