How could it be any better?

Taught that love’s just stormy weather,

Where tears fall like rain,

And joy comes with pain,

A cycle I ponder, why bother to tether?

That's what my mother conveyed,

Love, a complex masquerade,

Demands like waves, relentless and steep,

In its maze, lost and found, we weep,

A journey of shadows, where bright hues fade,

Where we don masks, and different parts are played.

In her world, love wore a twisted crown,

A realm where smiles often drowned.

Taught to embrace a love so stern,

In her lessons, a hard truth to discern,

In this echo, my own love was bound,

A place where true self is never found.

Be like us, be even better, but never too good,

In our shadow, do as you should.

Have a beer, yell, play our script,

In every word, my spirit dipped,

Her embrace, a wish, in stone it stood,

A warmth longed for, but never could.

"Never let go," her familiar refrain,

In love's labyrinth, a paradox to sustain.

Be independent, yet not too free,

Bound by a love, yet yearn to flee,

In this tug of war, my own ground to gain,

A silent battle, in a world of disdain.

The mirror's gaze, once distant and cold,

Reflects a story, familiarly told.

In its frame, her shadow I see,

A path I swore never to be,

In this reflection, a new self unfolds,

A truth untold, in its depth, it holds.

In quiet moments, a truth starkly clear,

In the mirror's face, her echo draws near.

Mimicking unwittingly in gestures and tone,

Traits once feared, in my reflection shown,

A cycle mirrored, a prelude to fear,

In this glass, her legacy appears.

But in this reflection, my resolve is found,

I shatter the glass, break the cycle around.

With each piece that falls, a new path I forge,

Redefining my story, beyond her scourge,

From the shards of the mirror, on liberated ground,

Her hold dissolves, I am no longer bound.

From shattered glass, a new self born,

Rising from fragments, no longer torn.

Yet even as I forge my path,

Echoes linger of her wrath,

In every conversation, a reminder worn.

Conversations, her stage, her show,

About herself, a constant flow.

My words, unheard, in her soliloquy,

In this silence, my voice's plea,

Her interest only in tales she sows,

In this void, my narrative grows.

On nights of my triumphs, her absence spoke loud,

At graduations, her shadow never found

The night I chose to flee,

From a love not meant to be,

Her voice, in silence, it bowed.

That night, a crossroad, revealed in a call,

My voice trembling, ready to fall.

I spoke of leaving, breaking my chain,

But her response, cold, indifferent to my pain,

A moment of truth, yet she had nothing to say,

In her silence, my resolve found its way.

As years unfolded, the truth became clear,

Her love, conditional, built on fear

In my last partner, traces of her ways,

A cycle unmasked, in the light of days,

Breaking free, the cost was dear,

Towards new dawns, now I steer.

Now I stand, in newfound light,

Shedding layers of a long, internal fight.

No longer a mirror of her desires,

I kindle my own new fires,

In this journey, I claim my right,

A future shaped so bright

With eyes wide open, I now see,

The tangled web of what used to be.

Breaking cycles, with each stride,

For my own family, I decide,

A legacy of love, from me, it'll be,

Forging ahead, strong and free.

A distance chosen, for peace of mind,

In this space, my own self, I find.

Lessons learned, though harsh they seem,

In their wake, I redeem,

A life rebuilt, on terms defined,

Where love's not a chain, but gently entwined.

Forward I walk, with lessons in heart,

From past echoes, I now depart.

Embracing a future, new and unseen,

Where healing's roots have grown serene,

A journey mine, a distinctive start,

Guided by wisdom, playing its part.

So here I stand, in my own light,

Shedding the remnants of an old fight.

With each step, I embrace my truth,

A dance of freedom, reclaimed from my youth.

My story, a testament to inner might,

In life's narrative, my pen takes flight.

#poem