Admit It

You've done wrong-
Say it.
You've been unfair,
Say it.
You've faltered,
Say it.
You've looked at him and seen failure,
Admit it.

You've never truly seen him, have you?
Not for who he is, not for who he could be,
only for who you saw him as.
You've measured him against a standard
that was never his to bear,
and when he stumbled under its weight,
you called him weak.
He's an adult-he's entitled to make his own decisions.

You've made him doubt himself,
made him question his worth.
Every time he dared to dream,
your words were the shadow
that swallowed the light.
You stole the confidence he never got to wear,
and now he walks with his head low,
not because he lacks potential-
but because you made him believe he does.

And if he falls,
if he gives in to the emptiness you've carved into him,
his silence, his struggles-
they will be etched into your hands.
When you should have been there,
you walked away.
When you should have built him up,
you tore him down.

Do you truly believe his future is set in stone?
That success bows only to textbooks and grades?
You know nothing of what he can be.
You've stripped him of his self-respect,
denied him the love he deserved.
But remember-
one day, all shall stand before their Lord,
and the weight of your choices
will not be so easy to bear.