I used to wake up with tears in my eyes,
Wishing, just for a moment, I could turn back time.
Losing you felt like losing a piece of myself,
Like a book missing its final chapter.
At first, the pain was unbearable.
Every morning felt heavier than the last.
I would hear a joke and start to laugh,
Only to stop halfway, because you weren’t there to hear it.
I remember the nights I cried myself to sleep,
Asking God why He took you away.
I replayed our last conversations in my mind,
Hoping I had said enough, done enough, loved enough.
But grief is strange. It doesn’t leave all at once.
It lingers, then fades, then comes back again.
Some days, it felt like I was drowning in sorrow.
Other days, I could breathe, just a little bit easier.
And then, something changed.
One day, I smiled when I thought of you.
Not a sad smile, not a broken one,
But a real, warm, genuine smile.
I realized you’re not just a memory.
You’re in the way I speak, the way I laugh,
The way I love, the way I care.
You’re in the lessons you taught me,
The little things you left behind.
Instead of wishing you were still here,
I started thanking God that I had you at all.
Instead of focusing on what I lost,
I focused on what I gained,
A love so strong, it didn’t end with goodbye.
Now, when I hear our favorite song, I don’t cry.
I close my eyes and let it take me back.
I don’t feel empty anymore,
Because I know you’re still with me just in a different way.
I have healed, but I haven’t forgotten.
I have moved forward, but I still carry you with me.
Not in pain, not in sadness,
But in love, in gratitude, in peace.
And I know, one day, we’ll meet again.
Until then, I’ll keep living, loving, and smiling,
Just like you would have wanted.
We grew up in humble families – Walking Shadow Poetry
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