3:46 am

It’s 3:46 a.m.

And I’m lying next to a man

who used to be my husband.

Now,

he feels like a stranger.

My heart pounds in the dark,

my stomach twisted tight.

Breath catches in my throat

this ache has no words,

only weight.

I crave freedom.

Not just from him,

but from the cage I helped build

out of hope, silence,

and promises

that never came true.

Why didn’t I see it?

Why did I hold on so tightly

to something that never held me?

Twenty years later,

I sit in the quiet,

but I am no longer asleep.

My eyes are wide open now.

I once thought it was impossible

to detach from someone

I swore was my forever.

But look at me,

One foot out the door.

One hand reaching for the light.

I will not be afraid

to choose myself anymore.

I will not be afraid

to begin again.

I am ready to return to me.

To be fearless.

To take back what was always mine,

My voice.

My heart.

My life.