When Will You Learn They Can’t Love Like You Can?

I was escaping one night on an old, familiar, abandoned highway.

All the mirrors were gone.

There was no need for reflections to recall those days of long ago.

Memories were what I was desperately driving away from.

These should have been an apparition in the far corner of the horizon, but with each passing mile, they seemed to become more vivid in iridescent colors in my timeless mind's eye.

My eyes were focused on the mountains that lay straight ahead.

Vacant.

I only see the lines.

I only see the lines.

My body was stiff and, oh, so cold…

My neck is locked into position,

refusing to look in my peripheral.

I have become emotionless.

My body is not the only part of me that has turned frigid.

I only see the lines.

I only see the lines.

It's funny how escaping can sometimes lead you down that one wrong turn.

Roadblocks ahead from you missing in action.

All your tender words captivated me, and I haphazardly let you in.

It was that easy.

Despite any proof to back up your words, I somehow let you embed yourself within my soul.

Consuming my once-empty world …

You crept up on my trail of tears, snuck past all my apprehensions, and found one off-ramp that wasn’t closed due to construction.

You brushed up against the vulnerability of my need.

You seeped through my clothes like the rain.

I blindly forged ahead with one careless, bold touch from your eyes.

Almost every part of me initially told me not to take this exit.

Deep inside, I knew this was a familiar road I was on.

It was the fastest highway in the city, but it ran in only one direction and was always a dead end. Eventually, I would be captive there alone.

It was a familiar place, a poorly lit area where I would end up sitting in my stupidity.

To wallow in my shame.

To scold that naïve little girl that I am once more.

Don’t you remember the last time you were taught this lesson?

Go ahead.

Keep taking this road.

That’s right.

You know when someone is not worthy of you, but you continue not to listen.

Why do you allow someone to place so little value on your heart?

Tossed aside for what reason?

It doesn’t matter.

The universe told you from the beginning.

Stupid girl. How long will it take you to learn?

You knew along. SMH.

They can’t love like you can.