Unraveled

You held me close
like a promise wrapped in silk,
whispers soft as shadows,
and I believed them-
believed every word
like it was light
and I was starved for it.

I thought love
was supposed to taste like honey,
but it tasted like your tongue
coiling around my spine,
like your hands shaping me
into something I wasn't.

You called it love,
but it felt like chains
each time you kissed me,
each time your fingers
traced my skin,
marking places
I never knew I could be owned.

I was the moon,
and you,
you were the gravity
pulling me to places
I didn't choose.

But now I see it-
the strings you pulled
tangled in my hair,
the lies you dressed in roses
to make me want them.

Your love was a game,
a pawn,
and I was the sacrifice
for your throne.

I woke up today
and the world feels different.
The mirror,
the lies,
your face no longer
holds the warmth
I used to crave.

What I thought was love
was your control,
and I will not be your puppet anymore.

I am cutting the strings.