After The Echo

reflecting on his behavior he didnt understand how to love So I’m left with the echo

I looked back on the moments I once tried to forget,
The slammed doors, the silence, the words dripping with regret.
But in the cracks of memory, something softer came to light—
A truth I never noticed while standing in the fight.

He loved me in a broken way, in a way he couldn’t name,
Love tangled up with weakness, fear dressed up as blame.
It wasn’t the love I needed, or the love I deserved to receive—
But now I see the signs I once refused to believe.

The way his eyes softened when he thought I wasn’t looking,
The way he held on tighter when the world around was shaking,
The moments he tried—though his demons held him down—
Love flickered in his shadows, even as he made me drown.

Now I’m standing in the quiet that follows after storm,
Piecing together truths that don’t fit the usual form.
He could have loved me fully, if he ever learned how—
But love unfinished isn’t love I can carry now.

So I lay it down gently, what he could never explain,
Not to excuse the damage, not to justify the pain.
Just to honor the part of me that needed to understand—
He did love me, in the only way he thought he can.

But I’m choosing myself now, stepping out of the ache—
Because realizing his love existed doesn’t mean I should stay.