"You Shouldn't Have Bothered" by Michelle Mangal

If you knew howI'd cry walking along the riverTears leaking behind my sunglassesAfter you'd leftYouWould never have said those pretty lies to me.

If you knew howI'd break into so many piecesI'm still finding pieces of that girl I once knewUnder my bed and in the back of the sofaYouWould never have attempted to love me.

You both shouldn't have bothered.

Sorrow has scored its lines into my faceSilver is growing from my headI'm fed up of photos that show eyelids puffy from tearsBecause I cry before, after, and during everything I do.Yet would either of you have stayedif you knew that worst was yet to come?

Who knew that I'd break and thenbreak some moreuntil all there is left of me isjust dustand grains of salt.

Truly, right now I thinkYou shouldn't have bothered.

And yes, I survived those other tears,That old heartacheand all the other bullshit life had to offer.

But honestly, my love

If that is all

you have

to give to me.

You shouldn't have bothered.

(Photo by Kinga Cichewicz on Unsplash)