Lastly

I kept excusing
the way you treated me
because I knew
just how much you had suffered
at the hands of men
who did not love you.
But I have suffered, too,
and it takes all the strength
I can muster
to keep that pain
from infecting who I am
and the people I love.
I hope that one day
you can find it within yourself,
the courage
to not let your pain define you,
but rather,
be defined
by how you overcame it.

You simply cannot break others
because someone
had broken
you.

~LT