What Happened to Us?

A prose poem on relationships ending

What happened to us? I asked myself since we are now far apart.

I feel safer improvising my own tune, stretching my dream’s width to the sound of a sunrise to a moon’s pale hues.

It shies me and smiles me that I can even be sitting here clicking away my truths.

Years can soften misunderstandings. It wasn’t only you; I had my share of mistakes too.

You see, I’ve grown wiser and bolder without your extra scoops of doubt.

No longer dominated. Submissive doesn’t do me any good. And to tell you the deepest truth? It didn’t help you.

My heart is clearer too. It’s no longer crushed to midnight blue.

I have compassion and ideas and share them more and more. Self-confidence is a growing thing and not exclusively yours.

Just one more puzzle piece to this endless life of learning, respelling what love means, knowing better when to let go and when to hold tight.

And tonight, I’m sitting here holding the sky and touching all the stars because I finally can.

What happened to us?

Most would say we failed but we didn’t. We simply changed.

We didn’t fall apart either. We matured.

And, in the end I found me, more self-assured.

Carolyn Riker, MA, LMHC, is a licensed psychotherapist and author of three books. Her latest is My Dear, Love Hasn’t Forgotten You. If you’d like, follow her on Facebook at Carolyn Riker, MA, LMHC or Instagram.