I

There was a time

When you were naive,

When they had you believe,

In the power of their love,

And the safety in belonging.

There was a time,

When you fell for their deceit,

Never quite knowing,

Or indeed, having known,

What it really feels

To be loved as one’s own,

Sans conditions.

There was a time,

When you stood alone –

Absolutely so,

A bit bewildered,

Head hanging in shame,

And very frightened;

You dared not cry out loud,

But you thought,

They’d come anyway

To stand by you,

To take you away

From the battlefield.

And you waited,

For that day

When they would –

But the only fool

In that waiting game,

Was you –

The battered you,

The windswept, broken you,

Now rebirthed into a new dawn

Of realization.

II

Love does not touch

Every life,

Just the same;

Some are ensconced within it,

And some deprived,

Perchance because

They are not good enough,

For such precious things

As boundless love.

Image Credit: Photo by Sean O’ Riordan on StockSnap