Monthly Archives: September 2013

Seems Impossible

Posted by James Browning on

broken20heart11Most days I don’t think about you. That’s a lie. I think about you every day. The more I tell myself that I don’t love you, the more my heart says that’s untrue. You’re in my thoughts when I wake up and when I go to sleep. I want to forget you but it seems impossible. N.W.

i-will-forget-you

You can’t turn love on and off like a light switch,
no matter how hard you try. All you can do is wall it off,
one brick at a time, until you’ve created an impenetrable fortress
around your emotions. And once that fortress is built,
you camouflage it so well that even you can’t see it anymore.
Katherine Allread

Eight Rules of Divorce

Posted by James Browning on

broken20heart1It took a divorce to teach me how marriage should work. That’s what I thought. Love has failed again and another decree is in my hands. The Eight Rules of Getting Over a Divorce: Fall down. Grieve. Get up. Try again. Forgive. Let go. Learn. Move on. J.B.

shutterstock_98105513-300x200

Americans, who make more of marrying for love
than any other people, also break up more of their marriages,
but the figure reflects not so much the failure of love
as the determination of people not to live without it.
Morton Hunt

Won’t Be the Same

Posted by James Browning on

broken20heart1I was blind and didn’t see it coming. Saying you were leaving to be with someone else was like being punched in the stomach. Stunned and feeling like I wanted to throw up, I watched you leave. Now comes the pain. I won’t be the same for a long time. L.H.

1303917061Tncac0EDIT

Bushwhacked,
I examine my hands.
Same hands.
Rings still there
but no longer valid.
From “Split: A Memoir of Divorce”
by Suzanne Finnamor

Hoping but Never Finding

Posted by James Browning on

broken20heart1It was many years ago when we spent our nights together. I think about you every day. Did your life turn out good? Are you happy? Hindsight has taught how much you meant to me. Every few weeks I go searching on-line for you, hoping but never finding. J.R.

searching-online-fitness-art
Years of love, followed by heartache.
Those are the years that define me.
Those are the years that know–
love’s eternity is you.
C. Elizabeth

Being a Grown-Up

Posted by James Browning on

broken20heart1My dreams seemed so possible before you. Then I imagined falling madly for someone and being happy with them for the rest of my life. Now I’m afraid. My dreams are broken. My belief in love is no longer pure and naive. I hate being a ‘grown-up’. R.P.

how-to-survive-a-break-up-2_WidePlayer

We ruined each other by being together.
We destroyed each other’s dreams.
Kate Chisman

Tired of Me

Posted by James Browning on

broken20heart1In the beginning we were so passionate and into each other. I know that is impossible to sustain but thought we’d settle into a rewarding and fulfilling life together. Instead you tired of me like old clothes you did not want to wear any more and threw me away. D.C.

my heart in the trash capture

I would rather a romantic relationship
turn into contempt than turn into apathy.
The passion in the extremities
make it appear as though it once meant something.
We grow from hot or cold,
but lukewarm is the biggest insult.
Criss Jami

A Woman Like You

Posted by James Browning on

broken20heart1The day I met you the yearning began. Getting to know you at work has only made me feel stronger. You’re smart, kind and incredibly pretty. Each night I toss and turn before sleep wondering if a woman like you could ever love a man like me.  S.P.

!!stock-footage-young-pretty-woman-being-too-tired-to-work-trying-to-catch-up-anyway

Six weeks I’ve wanted you.
I know how you move,
and how the sunlight makes a shadow
on the curve of your cheek,
and the shape of your ear.
Laura Kinsale

Day and Night

Posted by James Browning on

broken20heart1It seemed certain we’d always be together. The days, weeks, months and years all ran together. I took us for granted and mistreated you. Only now that you’re gone do I realize you were the center of my universe. Day and night all I think about is you. C.W.

poor guy

You never knew the last time you were seeing someone.
You didn’t know when the last argument happened,
or the last time you had sex,
or the last time you looked into their eyes
and thanked God they were in your life.
After they were gone?
That was all you thought about.
Day and night.
From “Lover Mine”
by J.R. Ward

How Screwed Up I Am

Posted by James Browning on

broken20heart1I want to give you my whole heart, but can’t. I’m afraid you’ll find out how screwed up I am if you get that close. It confuses me to love you so much and hate myself at the same time. If I don’t share my true feelings with you soon I know you’ll leave me. H.F.

tumblr_ktxfv6vzud1qzt3s3o1_500

A woman who is not happy with herself
can never be happy for someone else.
Kamryn Adams

Insanity of My Heart

Posted by James Browning on

broken20heart1There have been a few I wished I could fall in love with, but couldn’t. Then there are those like you who I shouldn’t have fallen in love with, but did. Wanting what is bad for me and refusing what could be good is the insanity of my heart. J.B.

3041941381_1_3_u7FgwCnq

Maybe I was destined to forever fall in love
with people I couldn’t have.
Maybe there’s a whole assortment of impossible people
waiting for me to find them.
Waiting to make me feel the same impossibility
over and over again.
Carol Rifka Brunt