I have loved with an unfinished heart, Mistaking my hunger for another's art, Now I must mend what I played no part in breaking.

I will audit the man behind my pain, Find where my pride wore wisdom's chain, And teach my habits a different language.

I will unlearn the romance of neglect, Stop calling silence a form of respect, And quit making homes out of almosts.

I will meet my flaws without disguise, Stop dressing my faults in beautiful lies, And let accountability look me in the eyes.

I will not make my next love pay For every debt the last one left unpaid, Nor turn new tenderness into old trials.

I will become a safer place to land, A heart with truth in its open hand, A promise my actions can understand.

I will not heal just to look brand new, Or grow a little to impress someone new, I'll change because my old self needs outgrowing.

When love returns, I won't arrive as a wound, Demanding affection to silence the gloom, I'll bring a whole person into the room.

I will love again, but not to be saved, Not to prove that my heart can still be brave, But because love deserves the man I am becoming.

And if someone chooses to walk away, I won't turn their leaving into my identity, Or sentence my future for another person's decision.

I am not finished; I am under revision. My flaws are my homework, not my definition. I will love again, with  growth as my condition.