better man

i.
You always told me I would heal in time,
but I feel as though
I may not have gotten here if you hadn't abandoned me.
Thank you for your secrets and your lies,
for the lesson that words only go so far.
Thank you for promising me a future
and ripping it from my hands,
showing me that one day
I will get the future I deserve,
while ensuring that it will never come to me
with a man who doesn't deserve me.
I still wish you could've seen it,
all your lies ground to dust
under the heel of my shoe.
Your greatest mistake
was assuming I'd never figure it out.
Best keep your mouth shut
from now on, huh?

ii.
I told you that night,
the night you ruined me,
that I would abandon
whatever future I made for myself
if you returned to me,
and on that day we were both liars.
What kind of fool would I be
to desert the truest happiness I've known,
for the greatest fool I've come across yet?
You will never know my love again,
and that is a promise I will carry
to my grave.

iii.
You spent our time together
attempting to convince me
that I was far better
than you could ever be,
and you finally succeeded.
Thank you for the greatest heartbreak
I've ever known
and the rebirth that followed.
You did not build me,
and I will never call you my maker,
but I found light when you left me
with all of your dark.
I would not be the woman I am today
if I was with you.
(Thank you for freeing me.)