Category: Written Promptly (Page 4 of 7)

Only Half

October 6, 2024 / Cheney / 0 Comments

I gave you all of myself.

I gave every bit of the love I had
living within my beating heart
that once I swore would only
beat for you, and forever.

I gave you my best.
I gave you my energy when I had none,
I gave you my compassion when you hurt me,
I gave you undivided attention and never once
looked at another man and thought:
“He might be a better choice…”

I loved you even though
sometimes I hated you and sometimes
I felt like you hated me and what I’d done to you.

I tried as hard as I could.
I feel like I did the best I could.
I gave you and the future I wanted with you
every bit of my patience I could summon so
if you were ever ready, we’d still have a chance.

But you lied and you lied and you lied and you lied.

You lied to my mother today
when she asked you to leave me alone.

You can’t even tell the truth
when it doesn’t really matter;
lying seems to be instictual for you.

How could I decide to live with that?

I can’t.

I didn’t.

I won’t.

You only gave me half of a relationship
so it stands to reason you would have
only given me half a life.

I get the leftovers, but only if and
when you think your first, and
therefore more important family,
is assuredly taken care of forever.

You would give me half a life.

You would give me half of your love,
half of your attention and consideration.

I would have to bite my tongue and
steel my heart to pretend to appreciate it
when I only get half of our holidays together,
when I only get a fraction of your time.

You would only give me the half of yourself
that you think your real family doesn’t need.

And people have been telling me that
from the first time I told them about you.

He’s never going to give you what you want.
He’s never going to make you feel safe and secure.
He’s never going to let go of her enough to be able
to make you feel like you come first and are the most
important woman in his life.

He’s never made you feel that way.
Why should you ever believe he will now?

You made me feel like I wasn’t good enough.

You made me feel like I wasn’t worth all the things
you lost or gave up to be able to have me.

You made me feel like you wished
you’d never even met me, and
you made me feel like
nothing would ever get better.

So, I made a decision without you
and now you know how that feels.

I decided not to take this anymore.

I decided that I am done.

I have known for a long time
that I deserve more, and better
than you’ve ever been willing to give me.

You gave me half a relationship.

I gave me half of your love.

You would have given me half a life.

But I want someone who’ll give me their all
just because they want to.

Inspired by the Writer’s Write October prompts | Photo by J H on Pexels.

A couple in love, laying together staring into each other's eyes

might as well…

October 5, 2024 / Cheney / 0 Comments

If I’m gonna be drunk
might as well be drunk in love.
Taylor swift

when I found you
it was so easy to
get addicted
to your sweet words and
your interest

it felt like taking a drink
after years of a well
being left to sit dry

but as God as my witness
even if I don’t believe
not even a sip of this love
is worth the pain you leave

cut me off

call me a cab

you’ll never know
all the love we could have had

Inspired by the Writer’s Write October prompts | Photo by someone who should get credit for letting me use it in Canva.

when you draw the line

October 4, 2024 / Cheney / 0 Comments

You must draw a line somewhere,
mark the spot of no return –
if someone crosses your boundary
you have to be able to say:

“Look, I showed you.
I told you what would happen
if you didn’t start respecting me.”

It’s your job to decide
what you will and will not
tolerate, even from the people
you have always loved the most.

When you’re broken and
still breaking, go to the ocean.

Remember that salt water
is the cure for everything.

Take off your shoes and socks
and wiggle your toes in the sand
before you start walking.

Go to where the waves break
hard against the shore –
you will be familiar with this dance –
one step forward, two steps back –
heart beating hard
trying to avoid breaking.

Remember how he loved you but
remember how he hurt you, too.

Feel the warmth and breadth
of the love you were looking for.

Feel the searing burn of betrayal,
the sting of old wounds that
keep reopening and won’t heal.

Consider the weight of the doubt
and fear that have been
breeding inside your chest,
crushing your fragile heart.

Finally, make the decision
that you don’t want to
feel like this anymore.

Now, bend down and touch the sand.

Use the finger that once
traced the edges of all his scars
to draw a heart in the sand
and call it your love.

Decide whether you want
to stay and watch the water
wash your heart away.

Choose to not.

Turn your back to the past,
and run.

Inspired by the Writer’s Write October prompts | Photo by Engin Akyurt

Like Ross & Rachel except for the end.

October 3, 2024 / Cheney / 0 Comments

You were the most gentle friend.

You were not comforting, but
your skin and hair and body were soft,
smooth, soothing to the touch.

You never seemed to understand
what you were doing wrong
until you had already done it,

and as much as you want to please,
you more often end up fumbling
to find an excuse for the things you do
and worse, the things you don’t do.

Pivot, I said.

If you don’t change things,
if we can’t change things between us,
if we can’t turn them around and
start our way down a whole different road,
we’ll fall.

We’ll go crashing down the stairs,
and I’m the only one who’ll be smart enough
to tuck and roll, so when I get to the bottom
I can stand back up again.

Pivot, I said.

Over and over.

Pivot.

Pivot.

PIVOOOOOOOT.

Inspired by the Writer’s Write October prompts | Photo by Jimmy Chan

you were meant for me, but you were meant for her too

October 2, 2024 / Cheney / 0 Comments

We shouldn’t have met,
is what I am thinking now
and I know it’s not what you
would ever want to hear, and
it’s not something I ever
thought I would honestly say, but
I’m starting to think it’s true.

I thought I was meant for you.

I thought you were meant for me and
that we would have a long road
laid out before us – a whole
entire future life together –
when we could be a family.

When I could finally say that you’re mine.

But possession is 9/10ths of the law
and she’s the one who possessed you.

10% is all I’ve ever had
and all I would ever have.

It’s not enough to feel
like we were meant for each other
if you won’t give us the chance
to build our forever
because you’re still holding on
to the woman who left you alone
long before you even met me.

I felt like you were meant for me
because we fit together like pieces
of a puzzle that had be lost and dusty
under a table where no one would sit together.

I felt like you were meant for me
because the sound of your voice, your smile,
the way you made me feel when you put
your hand on my back and
helped me get where I needed to go…

I was hoping you’d always be here
to help me get wherever it is I need to go.

But possession is 9/10ths of the law
and boy/girl playground logic says:
“I had him first!”

I thought you were meant for me.
But I guess you were meant for her.