We spent eight years together. There are reminders everywhere. Things I still have, restaurants we liked, places where special moments happened, the neighborhood we lived in and even the streets we drove together all remind me of you; always will. C.S.
Forgetting isn’t enough.
You can paddle away
from the memories
and think they are gone.
But they will keep floating back,
and again and again.
They circle you, like sharks.
Sara Zarr
Falling in and out of love with you had a purpose. The heartbreak prepared me to appreciate the love of my life when it arrived. There will always be a little spot with your initials inscribed on it tucked away safely in my heart. First love never completely dies. A.P.
In Nature, things are broken with a purpose:
clouds break to pour rains,
rivers break to water fields,
fields break to yield crops,
seeds break to yield plants
… so if ever you feel broken,
understand that you must be part
of a better and more beautiful purpose…
Debashis Dey
After we broke up I found traces of you for months. I’ve always since wondered how could someone lose so many bobby pins? Did you leave them all over on purpose for me to find? My wounds have healed and the reminders I find bring up good memories now. K.D.
The things
that mattered
Were broken
and shattered
One by one.
From the song “Walking Away” by Jonny Lang
I thought you were lost to me forever. Through the years you were in my thoughts often. Sometimes I’d search the internet for traces but never found any. I had no idea where your home was or what had become of you. Then you found me. Oh, what joy! Y.M.
thought that I would never see you again
thought that time removed the traces our love left on my soul
thought that time erased all the memories we created
thought that time healed my broken heart
thought that I was finally over you.
never thought that I would crash into you
never thought that I would see my lost soul in your eyes
never thought that memories would sent me spiraling
never thought that my heart would be able to break again
never thought that we are not over.
Anonymous
Loving you does not hurt anymore, but my love for you is still within me. It found a protected place in my heart and fills far more space than I thought possible after so long. To lose in love does not mean love is lost. It only means one is left alone to care for it. J.M.
I fell in love with her
when we were together,
then fell deeper in love with her
in the years we were apart.
Nicholas Sparks
I’ll never forget: driving from the airport after not being together for weeks; the gift of yourself with a bow in a strategic spot; a French maid costume surprise; the noisy headboard the first time we made love. I smile to recall sweet memories only death can take away. C.K.
Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you plann’d:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.
“Remember” By Christina Rossetti 1830–1894
I still find physical traces of you: a music tape you sent me mixed in with others, photos on a hard drive saved from an old computer, a big Valentines Day card packed away at the bottom of a stereo box. It’s been over 20 years and you’re still very much with me. M.E.
Faded photograph
Covered now with lines and creases,
Tickets torn in half
Memories in bits and pieces,
Traces of love long ago
That didn’t work out right.
Traces of love.
From the song “Traces” by the Classics IV
A thousand, no, ten-thousand times I’ve wondered where you are, what you’re doing and if you ever think of me. I remember my feelings for you, start saying the forgetting poem to no avail and then go on bearing you in my heart; secretly; safely; unseen. M.E.
Forget her name,
Forget her face,
Forget her smile,
Her warm embrace.
Forget her when they play our song,
Forget you cried the whole night long.
Forget you memorized her walk.
Forget the way she used to talk.
Forget the things she used to say.
Forget that she has gone away.
Forget her laugh.
Forget her grin.
Forget the dimples on her chin.
Forget the way she held you tight.
Forget she’s somewhere else tonight.
Forget the times that went so fast.
Forget her love that now has passed.
Forget she said she’d never leave you,
I can’t forget no matter what I do.
The saying “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone” is tired, over-used and absolutely true. I’ve lived half a life time since I lay in bed with you and held you close with tears in my eyes from the sheer joy of my overwhelming love for you. I still feel it; always will. A.G.
You will never know true happiness
until you have truly loved,
and you will never understand
what pain really is
until you have lost it.
Anonymous
My heart has been broken many times, but never like when I lost you. The depth of the grief helped me harden my heart to keep anyone from getting that close again. And they haven’t. Yes, I have loved since you, but I have never loved again like I did you. D.O.
A mighty pain to love it is,
And ’tis a pain that pain to miss;
But of all pains, the greatest pain
It is to love, but love in vain.
Abraham Cowley
Broken Hearts Anonymous 