for you, for me

They ask,

            Where does it hurt the most?

I answer,

            And point to my chest.

For you,

            I was one after many,

                                   So much so,

                                               That you have grown numb to the disappointment.

For me,

            You were a first,

                            In such a way,

                                              That I froze at the unknown. 

You see,

            The biggest crime in youth,

                           Is the lack of experience to see and accept ugliness. 

They ask,

            Why the second chances?

I answer,

            Because I saw a child who needed healing. 

And so,

           I listened 

                            for you.

But in this back and forth, my purpose became a funny game

                                                                                              for you.        

And you grew to be a lesson

                                            for me.

You see,

            I point to my chest, where the pain sits, not only because of infatuation,

                              But because a truth I tried to delay was ripped raw and laid bare to see.

                                     That this world is marked in only blacks and whites

                                                                                                               for you,

                                                                                                                          and for so many others. 

Your capacity to understand people is limited by types and boxes and lines,

                 Whereas humans are nuanced with greys, crevices for redemption, and moments of reflection,

                                                                                                                                                                 for me. 

I saw,

             that some just take and take and take...and like the act of taking.

                         Well...the world becomes lonely and empty in a selfish existence. 

They say,

            To trust the gut, the feeling that resonates from your core.

                    Because sometimes the body senses wrong before the mind or heart is ready to believe.

I listened,

            When it started to hurt.

                   Because these things shouldn’t hurt.

                         Words shouldn't slice, touch shouldn't control, in an exchange that is already grossly unbalanced.

And so for me,

                        I let go,

                                       cut ties,

                                                      try to forget, 

                                                                            yet still hope, 

                                                                                                  I left brief memories of solace,

                                                                                                                                                    for you.