you were the kindest thing
that ever happened to me,
even if that is not how our tale is told.
when everyone else told me i was
destined to be a forgotten nymph;
that nurtured flowers and turned meadows gold,
you saw that the ichor that resides in me
demanded its own throne.
you showed me,
how a love like ours can turn
even the darkest, coldest realm
into the happiest of homes-
but storms can destroy
even the most stable homes.
he is a storm-
and storms devastate.
every time he hurts me,
i hold my breath
and bear the hurricane;
repeating to myself
one more chance,
one more breath.
just one more,
and i’ll fix him.
until one day when
i can’t
hold my breath anymore.
i am half a stormy evening,
one tear stained night
and two minutes and
five seconds
away from losing the last piece of myself
i could recognize.
they told me i brought out the storm in people.
but i knew
wherever there were dark skies
and wild winds;
lied a truth,
that described how much love
one can leave behind
the moment they accept all the pain
they have lived.
and that is all i ever wanted,
for you
to embrace your storm
and fall in love,
with your violent winds.
i fell in love with each drop of your storm.
after each night,
i would sit with you
and clean up the desolation.
hold you while the after effects
took over your body
along with mine.
until one night,
you forced me out of the
home we built together.
i can no longer recognize myself,
a weak image of who i once was.
she was looking for a boy
who would one day be a king.
slay the dragons
that guarded her cave
and make her remember
she was a queen.
she did not deserve a storm.
and so,
i let her go,
knowing she
deserved better.
she is gone now.
and here i sit,
wondering if i should have
been better.
explication:
this poem was meant to tell a story of love, domestic abuse and loss. both perspectives of the relationship are presented here, illustrating the loss on both ends, while also acknowledging the pain and brutality victims of domestic abuse face. the constant use of the storm and hurricane as a metaphor worked to add imagery and feeling of the disaster that was occurring. the themes i played within this poem included regret, chaos and order, destruction, a disillusion, loneliness as a destructive force and loss of innocence.
