stop the cycle

Dear Me,


You are 41.

Who have you become?

What have you gained or left behind?

What have you learnt or unlearnt?

Where are you now?


A lot hasn't been said or written in many years

Perhaps the demands of motherhood

took away the self you ever knew

Days you've spent toiling

worrying

carrying

everybody else's weight

except your own


I know you fought

Damn hard you did

This body you now carry

tells a tale of determination


Those fitness classes you teach

Dance classes you kept

Pilates courses you took

You fought to keep a part

all to yourself

I'm damn proud you did


Atlas,

for all that you have given

much more may be taken

when a marriage finally ends--

the stakes are higher now


Did you cry?

Did you crumble?

Did you despair?

Did your self break into million pieces?

Yes, it did


But, you don’t surrender.


You are still here

still breathing

still choosing

still alive

You are 41


This voice

This self

You can get it back

Now go.

Go get her back.


Love, me.