Respect From Absence

You wake up and don't check your phone for their name Walk through your day free from guilt and shame Your thoughts don't orbit what you could've done To keep them close, that battle's won You know what left wasn't meant to stay around What tries to return must meet you on new ground Not where they left you broken and confused But where you stand now, no longer used The man who changes lives not in yesterday's pain Too deeply rooted in now to play that game You feel lighter not because the world has changed But because your grip on it has been rearranged Released the need to control what others do Stopped trying to fix those who don't want fixing too That generosity once poured out so free Becomes focused, intentional, precisely key The change isn't loud, it's subtle and deep In moments where you breathe instead of weep There's no bitterness in this kind of change Just clarity piercing through pain's range You see people for who they truly are Not who you hoped they'd be from afar Healing began when you chose yourself at last No longer haunted by shadows of the past Sitting in solitude doesn't ache anymore It anchors you to your authentic core