A person who loves somebody will give them the world.
Sweat and tears will pour out into their actions.
Time and challenges will pass, but not their love. They will
give the person anything they want and need. Their love
will shine bright like the fire that crackles and dances on Christmas Eve,
the scent of pine and cocoa floating in the air
when the person was a child. They bring out that
child, one who is full of joy and ambitions. That child
who was so innocent, ready to get glimpses of the world.
Glimpses of the friendships made through their career.
The laughter that builds up at their high school reunion
with their friends as they recall the time their friend
tumbled down the stairs. That’s what someone who truly loves somebody
does. They want you to trust them, give them control.
Give them the power to have a say over every aspect
of your life. Those random gifts, the regular “I love you” ‘s,
all so you’d fall for them. Now they have your control.
They shook the snow globe of your childhood
until every flake fell and never landed.
You’ve relied on them so much you can’t imagine a world
without them. Those friends who love you, those who warned you
to be careful are now gone. The person you thought loved you
put out that fire from Christmas Eve and replaced it with ashes.
The ash and smoke fill your lungs and now you can’t escape.
They hold the oxygen mask you desperately need.
They hold the oxygen mask just out of reach,
the glass fogging with your breath,
while the firelight flickers out behind your eyes.
But even as the room fills with smoke
you learn that the fire can do something other than just burn.
Some flames grow without scarring.
Not every hand that reaches for yours wants to take your breath.
Some just want to understand and truly love you.
Not every voice that says, “I love you” is abuse in disguise.
Some voices are the windows you need open
to breathe in the clean, spring breeze.
There exists a love where they don’t tighten their grip
and help you step outside the house you thought was your home.
Not every relationship is a wildfire
waiting to kill you.
One person will come who will see who you are.
This new person now holding you in their arms that feel like a warm sunrise,
studying your breath instead of stealing it.
Your inner child finally steps forward,
not afraid of being harmed again.
What inspired me to write this poem is personal experience of a mentally abusive relationship. Unfortunately, this is something that other people can relate to. I wanted to write this poem to show others that while these types of situations may happen, they aren’t all like that. I want them to have hope that it will get better and that they will find the right person like I did. In order to write this poem, I listened to music and began to recall moments from my past relationship. I wrote them down in my notes and reflected on it. I began to just write down random things and then tried to find a way to make it symbolic. I focused on using similes, metaphors, shifts, and imagery. I felt like these things would allow the reader to compare their experience to things like fire. When a person thinks of fire, they think of burning and something that harms you. This is what an abusive relationship is like. At the same time, fire can keep you warm and give you light. I structured my poem by making it sound happy in the beginning, and then I decided to shift to a more hurtful tone to explain how quickly something can change. I didn’t want to end my poem on a bad note, so I decided to make it hopeful at the end to encourage people to not give up. Themes I am exploring in my writing are love vs. control, entrapment and dependency, and recovery.