Poem: I Can’t Watch You Destroy Yourself Anymore

I can’t watch you destroy yourself anymore—
Not like this,
Not in slow-motion grief
While you call it survival.

Every night,
You wear your wounds like armor,
Calling it strength
To drink away the silence,
To burn bridges
And laugh at the ashes.

I’ve stood in the smoke,
Choked on your pain,
Held your hand through hurricanes
You summoned yourself.

But I can’t stand here forever,
While you light another match,
Swear it’s the last,
And disappear into the flame.

I love you—
But I won’t drown
In the ocean you refuse to swim.
I won’t bleed
Just to remind you you’re alive.

So this is goodbye,
Or maybe just a plea
Spoken from the edge of hope:
Come back
Before there’s nothing left
To come back to.

Thank-you for reading.

Remember there are many paths back to God.

Follow your own path,

Brenda Marie