Dear ex,

Your words as sharp as knives scrape slow and deep across my skin

They aren't words.

It is the blade you told me I needed.

It wasn't love I was feeling.

I found safety in your danger.

I wasn't finding satisfaction in the way you held me anymore

I found hope in every bruise you stamped onto my skin.

It was hope you would one day return to the man I loved

But..

You aren't the man I loved, only the shell.

-Tori Casey