The other day...
a brother of mine
the one who laughs with lightning in his chest
and walks like nothing in life could break him
was broken

He found his girl
wrapped in limbs that weren’t his
Another man’s scent
on skin he once swore smelled like forever

He was inconsolable
Reduced to a crying spectacle
The kind of grief that doesn’t scream
it folds
It trembles like something holy has just been undone

He said...
The street don’t smile; my G
Love is sweet
but only for a while
Till your girl decides to cheat

And I believed him...

Because his voice cracked
in the middle of the word “loyalty”
like it wasn’t made for this century

He said...
Staying faithful now...
is like wearing armor in a world that prays with bullets
I didn’t reply
I just let him bleed
through words shaped like warnings

But quietly
somewhere between his sobs
and his snot-stained truths
I whispered to myself

If I were to love
I don’t think I could heed his counsel

Because love
even when it’s foolish
is the only thing
that makes me feel less like a ghost

And the truth is...
I don’t trust myself
Not with love
Not with pain
Not with the strange echo between the two

So I sat there
patting his back with one hand
and hiding my own heartbreak with the other

Because maybe
just maybe
if I console him well enough
he might be the one
to console my sorry self when it’s my turn

And there will be a turn

There always is

They say men don’t cry...
but we do
In silence
In showers
In long late-night texts
we delete before sending

I told him...
You loved right
She cheated wrong
That doesn’t mean your heart was weak
It means it was real

And as I said it...
I wondered if I was lying
or just practicing
for when I’ll need to hear it too

But one thing I swore
If I love again
I'll love loud
I'll love honest
I'll love hard

But I will not love stupid

Because heartbreak has taught me this...
it’s okay to give your all
just make sure it’s to someone
who won’t trade it
for a stranger’s touch in the dark

So here's to loving wisely
not wildly
To trusting again
but never blindly

To knowing that sometimes
it’s not love that failed you...
it’s who you gave it to