I have remembered loving you
In many different ways.

I remembered loving you
As a blade, once.
Those memories made me bleed
They burned, they ached,
No matter how many bandaids I used
They refused to stop.

I remembered loving you
As a bruise.
First, it hurt vaguely all the time
Everyone could see the deep purple
Of my pain.
But gradually, it faded
until it only hurt when I put pressure on it,
Or when someone accidentally bumped it.

Now, I remember loving you
As a thick, deep scar.
I can trace my fingers over it
And it no longer hurts.
I can remember what it felt like,
To love you,
To lose you,
But the blade’s bite is behind me.

It’s taken me so long,
To see my scars as proof
Of healing instead of harm.
But I’m stronger now.

Goodbye, old flame.

I no longer miss you.