I lost me trying to please you.
All the while you were only pleasing yourself.
Telling me that I was your sweet thang.
To find I was left behind placed on a shelf.
It took me a while to contemplate,
the severity of what was in front of me.
Blinded by what I thought it could become.
And yet I stood up for you,
when others said you were worthless.
Telling me you were a waste of my time.
Oh protect your heart was the fore-warned mention,
To which I waved my naive hand to dismiss.
Now as I look back and see all the mistakes that could have been avoided.
Red flags that should have been captured as they waved like Old Glory.
Now I stand here thinking.
If I had been the same little girl you first met,
You know the one that forgave you countless times.
Saying over and over again how love could change the story.
I would have never learned to become the strong, educated, black Queen I am today.
I learned from the hell and found my heaven.
I found my joy inside the storm.
I found the me that I lost trying to be the woman you wanted.
When all along I was already the woman you needed.
© Sista Alia