i thought her heart needed saving

i thought her heart needed saving
and though i've never been much of a hero, i gave it my best shot.
knocked out and knocked down, round after round.
my weak scrawny torso was no match for the stubborn addictions that lurked in dark rooms of this city.
every moment lost and wasted, every night she came home wasted.
such a distressed mess living on a diet of liquid regret.
but, regret was just a constant reminder embodied in the shape of a crimson flow from her pierced nostril.
both dried up and defeated.
day after day.
night after night.
bump after bump.
line after line.

the day after yesterday she awoke from the intoxicated daydream she'd been living in with half a bag of regret left buried at the bottom of her purse.
so far down that she forgot it was even there.
the memory of its existence completely erased.
it's kept there as a reminder.
a test she's failed a million times.
but, this time she'll pass every time.
she's growing up and growing out of the habits that have been bringing her down.

i thought her heart needed saving,
but i’m beginning to see that some hearts are bigger than the bodies they’re kept in.
she’s stronger than i gave her credit for.
though at times her heart of glass may crack and her hands might bleed trying to keep it intact, her heart will never shatter.
though she's learning heartache is just an unpreventable casualty of love and though she may not believe it,
this girl is full of love.

- stevenbaggs