I gave you my heart
before you knew its worth,
and loved you with a tenderness
you never quite returned.

I held on to the little things,
the moments you were kind,
and told myself that someday
you'd love this heart of mine.

Sometimes you would let me in,
and make me feel you cared,
but every time I reached for you,
there was nobody there.

I don't regret the love I gave,
or all I tried to do,
I only wish I'd realized
how little I meant to you.

And if there's one thing I regret,
it's not the love I gave,
but all the times I waited
for a love that never came.

I recall a time when I held you in my arms.
Your anguish palpable from the crushing weight of the world.

Your pain was my pain then, and I would carry all that and the world on my shoulders if it meant I could see your radiant smile.
I remember the promise I made as I held you. That I would always be there for you.
Always be there to care for you.
To protect you.
To lift your burdens when they were too much for your soul to bear.

I etched this promise into my heart, so that every beat would remind me of our pact.
Now you’re gone. As distant as the memory of a dream after waking.
Our bond, broken and scattered to the wind like dead autumn leaves in the gusts of a storm.

And yet, the promise in my heart remains etched there. Every beat leaving me wondering where you are.

Are you safe?
Beat
Are you comfortable?
Beat
Are you happy?
Beat

Every question left unanswered breaks my heart as I break my promise.
Feeling lost, like a knight with no kingdom left to serve. Wandering the wasteland of a cold, unknown world.

How can I possibly go on now?
I dare not forget the pact that pains me so, for it is the pain that reminds me of you.
But I know that a heart can only break so much, before the pieces are as soft as sand and drift quietly into the abyssal sea.

I remember all the times you held me in your arms, and said you loved me. My pain was your pain then, and you would carry all that and the world on your shoulders if it meant I could smile again. If it all meant a fraction to you of what it meant to me, then I think you’d want me to be the happiest I could be.
So I’ll walk this earth one step at a time, and forge a new, brighter future with the pieces of our broken promise you left behind.

Tell me honestly
what it meant
so these memories
fade to darkness.

The smell
of your candlelight
was never this strong,
yet its warmth
stuck to my skin
seeped into my bones.

Held on
like a kid
desperate

Now I’m dry
bitter, and hollow,
where’s all that bravado
when you showed up
like my savior.

Now you’re gone
tomorrow and after.