How can a torn connection, one so expected,
Still hurt so deep?

I can feel it in the core of my being,
The material of my heart being ripped apart string by string.

Perhaps the endless expectations
That it couldn't end this way actually led us down the very path we despised.

This hurt is the price to pay
When you wander into love
Chest held high and with no shield.

Nothing as marvelous as love comes without risk.

Staring at a masked image
Of someone who shares my name and face
I feel...
Nothing.

The person I thought I was
Is made up of nothing but pieces of those who surround me

1 in a million,
We’re told we are unique.

But the fragments of this shredded mask are chipping away
Leaving nothing
But a blank canvas
For my own design.

I feel...
Me

-a.e.