'TO ALL THE BOYS I'VE LOVED BEFORE'
by Mayda Del Valle
to all the boys I've loved before
part one:
we are not your mothers
you have been weaned from the breast of a woman for years
yet you come to us
woundedand half filled with promises you can only keep half the time
trying to suck lost sense of self drywe have become much too accustomed
to sleepless nights
and damp pillows
have become much too accustomed
to waiting for our empty beds
to be weighed downby the bodies of men
heavywith the scent and the hands of other women
and we
simply wanting to be loved
and to love ourselves unconditionally
simply wanting the truth
of whether you can truly love us or not
play hester prynn
place scarlet letters on our chests
become adulteressesc
heating ourselves
out of what we truly deserve
willing to settle for less
willing to act like a little less than a goddess
willing to sleep with the enemy
men
too scared to stop acting like boys
thinking we can love away their scars
so we take the lashes
of the insecurities they pour on usand lick our wounds in quiet mourning
for the little girls
that we lose by the minute
part two:
you said you had a photographic memory
but apparently you forgot
that honesty
begins with being real with yourself
and the ones you claim you love
the truth
cannot be hidden
what's clouded in darkness
will always come to light
my lovey
ou should have known that
claiming you saw my light so clearlyand brightlyI guess shit happens
I just wish it wasn't me
and I guess
it's so much better
to have loved and lost
then never to have loved at all
I know that's some easy shit to say
but I'm still gonna try to live by it
I'm still gonna try to put my faith in it
I will sleep on dry pillows now
in a bed big enough to love myself in it
I will awake
these coming mornings
with my eyes dry
and shining full of the knowledge
I am priceless
and worth nothing but honesty
I will remove
the scarlet letter from my chest
and take the hand
of a little girl I used to beand say, 'I'm sorry' to her
I'm sorry for cheating you out of the joy you have always deserved
and I will wait for a man
to come along
that can give me the truth
of how much he can really love me.....