are you happy now?

everything i did for you

every eye i turned for you

every love letter i wrote for you

every time i twisted my feelings to please you

little by little, i gave you pieces of myself

in fact, i tore the pieces out and begged you to take them

"please! i love you! don't do this!"

well, you didn't

you taught me a composed lie of love

you drew me in with your charm

your dazzling green eyes

and a dozen warning signs

"no. he wouldn't do this, he loves me!"

love doesn't come laced with second guesses

love doesn't come with what ifs and maybes

love doesn't come with a dying effort to ask about my day

"hello? are you there? do you even still care? where are you? where is your effort?

please. together we can fix this."

tell me why i fixed your mistakes

i made this okay for just another day

because if it all goes away

what's left to say?

you're tangled in my veins, my heart, my brain

you're novocaine and my pain

you're not quite sure of anything and i guess you went

and switched lanes

"is it true? what you did? how could you? you said you loved me."

that was the last day

there is no way you could ever make me stay

you took away my faith

love is just another word to say

you threw my trust into a fire and watched it burn

little do you know, i am a phoenix

through the embers i will rise

i shall stand and defend my feathers

untainted by your fabrication of "love"

i will rise because i love to love

i no longer find self worth in the reflection of hatred

i no longer beg for love from a fable

i no longer search for love in you

because i have found it

in myself