If You Couldn’t Love Me

 You kept trying to replace me.

You were not at peace with yourself

until you found her sitting at a park bench,

alone,

mid-spring,

knots in her hair,

flowers beneath her feet,

and hands full of nothing.

You gave her something,

now she is trying to fit

in the places that were not made for her,

she is trying to fit in the holes I've punched through your chest

with my absence.

She is breaking her bones for you,

just enough,

just enough

to fill the emptiness

I left behind.

She loves you.

She loves you enough

to destroy the home

she has built for herself

and all I can hope

is that a part of you loves her too.