Where Love Heals

I once loved
like I could disappear

like if you asked
I would become
whatever you needed

even ash

and you said
wow

like devotion
was something
to observe
not hold

and something in me
went quiet

not broken—
just aware

I saw myself
standing there

offering everything
to someone
who wasn’t even
reaching

and now

I am learning
a different kind of love

one that does not ask me
to vanish

one that does not need
my suffering
to prove it is real

I will still love

deeply
softly
fully

but I will not burn
to be chosen

not ever again

JMS