if only i could—
i would make life lighter for all the ones i love.
my heart is strangely built, you know.
my own suffering, i do not mind,
pain pressed against me, i could bear—
my heart, an iron weight
that knows how to carry its own bruises.

but when it comes to my family,
to those i love—
the ones who made me, shaped me—
a single shadow of hardship falls on them,
and my heart shatters like glass.

if i could, i would pull the darkness from their days,
replace it with light.
i would lift the burdens off their weary backs,
turn every worry into a fleeting cloud.
i would put a smile on their faces,
soften the lines that life has drawn
too deeply on their foreheads.

i would heal every scar left on their hearts,
every wound they carry in silence.
i would fill their empty pockets,
and bring peace to their restless nights.
i would build them a world
where joy is not borrowed
but their birthright,
where love is not a quiet, hidden thing
but something that blooms wild,
without fear.

if i could take away every ounce of their pain,
every fear, every loss—
i would.

but here i am,
with empty hands and a breaking heart,
as helpless as i can be—
holding onto the hope
that love, in its quiet persistence,
might still be enough
to keep them afloat.

and so, i dream for them
the softest dreams—
dreams where life is kind,
where every step feels lighter,
and where they know,
deep down,
they are never alone in this.

because if my heart must break
a thousand times over
to hold them whole,
then let it break
and keep on breaking.

© reddragonfly