The Words

The words “I love you”

Have the immense power

Have the intense power

To both set you free and cage you in

Simultaneously

The words “I love you”

Can erase doubt

Can entice doubt

As to whether or not an individual can ever again live their life

Autonomously

The words “I love you”

Make you feel something

Make you forget something

Of a life once lived alone

Unsure of the future

But then you came along

Birds sang

Stars shone

“Say you’ll never leave me”

“Say this is forever”

“Tell me that you promise”

I promise

The words “Because I love you”

Act as a contradiction

Act as a conclusion

To both start a conversation or end one

Viciously

The words “Because I love you”

Take on a different meaning

Take on a disguised meaning

When they explain the reasons why your life is no longer yours

Ungraciously

The words “Because I love you”

Are not a precursor

Are not a pretext

For the justification of an unjust action

Lying on the floor

Trapped in this house

Screaming

Crying

“Message me back right away”

“If I call, you answer”

“You told me that you promised”

I promised

The words “Because I love myself”

Are practiced secretly

Are promised secretly

So as not to agitate the villain whom I had loved

Previously

The words “because I love myself”

Had given me argument

Had given me authority

To take back my life into my own hands and leave

Joyously

The words “Because I love myself”

Can rescue you

Can renew you

But only if you can see past the lies you’ve been told

Day in and day out

Nothing had changed

Fed up

Set free

“Everything will be okay”

“You don’t have to be afraid”

“Promise that you’ll love again only after you have learned to love yourself”

I promise.