the ache of disappointment

sometimes,  

we carry the weight of our own hopes,  

thinking, after all that has happened,  

after every storm that tore through us,  

we deserve something kinder.  

we hold onto this hope,  

like a lantern in the dark,  

a reason to keep walking forward,  

like fuel for an engine running on fumes.  

but how heavy it feels,  

when we arrive,  

and the destination isn't what we dreamed.  

the road ends, abruptly,  

or worse, keeps going, endless and cruel.  

it’s in that quiet moment of realization,  

the moment our hands are empty  

despite how tightly we held on—  

we feel the ache of disappointment.  

to expect is to gamble with the heart,  

to disappoint is to learn the taste of the earth  

when you fall, face first.  

and still, we do it again,  

don’t we?  

because hope is stubborn like that.