Rock Bottom Truth Poem by Lacie Hebert

I stopped calling it love at last,
stopped romanticizing the past.
Because love shouldn't feel like loss,
or leave me counting every cost.

I saw myself inside the mess,
the way I turned "no" into "yes."
The way I stayed when I should've gone,
just to prove I could hold on.

But holding on became the chain,
the thing that taught me constant pain.
And you weren't the only part—
I helped you break my own heart.

So when it finally came undone,
there was nowhere left to run.
Just me, standing in the truth:
this wasn't love—it was abuse.