The Scars You Gave Me

I gave you my heart like an unopened book,
Each page blank, awaiting your pen,
Believing you’d write stories of warmth and love,
I spoke in earnest truths, trusting you would listen,
Laid down my fears at your feet,
Thinking you would guard them, not set them lose,
Your laughter was a promise I clung to,
A shelter from harm I never saw coming,
But the sun always burns when it’s too close,

You chipped away at me with gentle hands,
Not all at once, but slowly, quietly,
With missed calls and hurting words,
Each silence louder than the last farewell,
I waited for apologies that never came,
Swallowed hope until it soured in my throat,
And every small betrayal formed a new line,
A harsh reminder that softness is a fool’s game,
That trust is just a weapon in disguise,

I tried to hold on, heal the cracks,
Pretending your absence wasn’t a choice,
Pretending your coldness wasn’t deliberate,
But you built walls inside your smile,
And every disappointment broke me down,
Until I became someone I could not name,
The mirror showed a stranger’s eyes,
An empty husk where dreams used to live,
A hollow space where love once dared to grow,

I walk through faces like shadows now,
Not touching, not feeling, not needing,
Because love is just a pretty lie in bloom,
You’ve taught me that hearts are fragile traps,
That kindness is the bait for fools,
And promises are meant to be broken, slowly and without noise,
If I turn away from gentle hands now,
It’s because yours taught me to flinch,
And their care feels like the genesis of pain,

The scars you gave me wear your name,
Deeply etched into the spaces no one sees,
A legacy of lessons no one should learn.
If I hurt someone who dares get close,
If my words cut sharper than silence ever could,
The blame won’t stain my hands alone,
You built this bulwark from your betrayals,
You forged this bitterness from my trust,
And now I bleed without letting anyone near,

So if they ask why I stopped believing,
Why my voice sounds colder than January’s harmattan,
I’ll speak your name without anger, without regret,
Because this is the gift you left behind,
A heart too wise to fall again,
A soul too scarred to ever be soft,
And if love knocks on my door again,
I’ll let it pass without a second glance,
For the scars you gave me have taught me well.