Love Supreme
On the long shadow of being told you weren't enough — and the small dream of believing in love anyway.
For anyone who’s been told they don’t measure up and then quietly built their whole self-image around the verdict. The poem is for the part underneath that still wants better.
I’ve had them tell me I’m not in her league
Eventually it’s just what I believed
Even though, now, I know it was all a lie
I still can’t help but feel I’m scared of love
Scared to try, scared to cry
Scared to give myself to someone new
Because I don’t want to be hurt
So I distance myself, when I shouldn’t
And give myself to those who don’t deserve it
But I know I’ll change one day
Before it’s too late
Because despite my hurt inside
I still believe in a love supreme
Even if it’s only in a dream…
The cruel feedback loop: scared of being hurt, so we choose people we’re already sure won’t hurt us — usually because they don’t actually love us. Safer that way. Even if it’s only in a dream — the belief survives. That’s the whole foothold for change.
— JTC