We left our love in the sand
It’s lost somewhere out at sea
Or under sandcastles, miles deep

Both our hearts remain by the lake
I journeyed back home
Then you ran away

My dignity is locked up in a cage
My body scraped clean
Your family mounts the keys in a frame

Tender touches are adrift in your sheets
Lost in a maze
Previously wrapping itself around tangled feet

Broken pieces of myself cower around your house
Fragments of us are tucked in the corners
Is it too late to hear me out?

She had a patience,
that no one understood.
She could wait a million years,
just to prove her love.

But no one gave her the option.
No one wanted to wait.
No one wanted patience.
And she just wanted to make everyone happy.

On her quest to make everyone happy,
she lost herself.
She forgot how to smile.
Sometimes she even forgot to breathe.

She was willing to show her love,
but no one was willing to love her back.
At least not the way she loved them.
No one could love like she did.

But she was broken now,
and everyone kept stepping on her shattered pieces.
She was willing to wait on anyone,
but no one would wait for her.

Come a little closer and you will soon see
Run your fingers along the cracked parts of me

The cracks etch my thighs, hips, and *******
Each crevice: white, purple, and ruby red

What once was flat and smooth has changed
Bulges and ripples: new landscape

Voices continue to point my flaws out to me
The mirror screams failure; I choose recovery

Previously, these porcelain walls were kept neat
Prim and polished on the inside – pink squeaky clean

Now, this doll is filled with laughter and cheesecake
But the cracks in my mask are all on display

He tells me he loves every part of me
And stretched skin is a part of my story

But I cannot tell if I’m breaking my “perfect” shell
Or if I want to go back to my personal hell

My love for her, an aunt to me
From a different family tree
Our roots are different , yet so entwined
Family is a state of mind

Our daily struggles, God does see
You need aunt Bertha , he said to me
Upon awaking, upstairs I walk
There at the table she sits and talks

A stranger she was , yet in my heart
I felt connected, like never apart
Her kindness wrapped my soul in ease
And to my heart, she had the key

My dear aunt Bertha, your heart it shines
From different roots ,our lives did whine
I thank the lord , he gave to me
My dear aunt Bertha, forever you'll be

Written by E.M.Rushton