When I look back on these past months spent with my then-girlfriend, there’s a multitude of feelings that take over. There were plenty of ups and a fair share of downs but in the end, there were valuable lessons to be learned. The main one being the the value of personal growth and loving oneself before being able to truly love someone else.

Through sharing this poem with you, I am taking my initial step onto the path of self-love and acceptance. This is my way of letting go and although our time together may have come to an end, the colors still remain. This time, it’s me who gets to choose the shades.

Iridescent

I was never a fan of colors as sad as that sounds.

I preferred shades of blacks and greys.

Anything that could fall into the background.

That was until you.

Once you came around I started

Thinking, breathing, living, feeling in color.

The shades were soon replaced.

Replaced with reds.

The color of love. passion. desire. lust. power. strength.

The color of Patricia.

The place where we kissed and laughed in the back seat.

Two teens in love without a care in the world.

Replaced with pinks.

The color of your lips.

Your lips whose kisses I could never get enough of.

The color of the sunset as we sat up on that mountain.

You stared off into the distance to admire the sky.

But me, I couldn’t take my eyes off you.

Replaced with oranges.

What an ugly color some people would say.

But to me the color of enthusiasm. freedom. adventure.

The sense of adventure you have when you drive 2,166.1 miles

To meet the girl of your dreams.

Replaced with yellows.

The color of your aura, a color of captivation, a color of happiness.

The color of the sun that brings light to this world.

The way you were able to bring light back into me.

Replaced with greens.

The color of my sweater that you wrapped yourself in every chance that you got.

But more than that. The color of rebirth, of renewal.

You came into my life and changed me for the better.

Showed me what it was like to love again and

To be loved fully in return.

Replaced with blues.

A color of honesty. trust. loyalty.

The color of the water.

The water where you wrapped yourself around my waist and

I twirled you just to hear you giggle.

Just to see you smile.

Replaced with purples.

A color of imagination, of dreams, of the future.

A future that I now refuse to imagine without you in it.

A future where it’s me and you.

A future full of color.