Where Love Heals

I don’t know how to stop loving you.
I’ve tried—

God, I’ve tried—
like holding my breath underwater,

waiting for the feeling to pass,
but you are oxygen
and I keep coming back up for air.

You know I love you.
That’s the part that breaks me open—
you know,
and still you let me stay.

You let me sit in the quiet spaces of your life,
trace my fingers along something
that feels too real to be nothing

And I tell myself —

just for a second—
that I matter.

But you don’t give me all of you.

You give me pieces—
small, shiny fragments
I hold onto like they’re enough.

Pieces of you
still feel better than none of you.

I’ve walked away,
or at least I’ve tried to.

And every time,
something pulled me back
like gravity,
like I never stood a chance.

But I deserve more than pieces.
I know I do.
Even if I don’t know
how to act like it yet.

I keep asking you
to choose me—
begging in quiet ways,
hoping you’ll finally see
what I’ve been offering
this whole time.

But you can’t…

so I will.

At least I will try.

JMS