The Good Goodbye

Chapter 5 – Poem

Some people liked you best in pieces—easy to hold, easier to break. But now you’re whole. And they don’t know how to love something with edges.

Let Them Walk Away

We were laughing.

Then it changed.

It was subtle. The silence that followed something I said.

The way her face shifted—not in disagreement, but in disbelief—

like I was becoming someone she didn’t recognize.

“You’ve changed,” she said,

but not like it was a compliment.

And in that moment, I knew something unspoken was ending.

A quiet goodbye. No screaming. Just a realization:

I’ve outgrown this.

Leave Them Gently

Some people need you to stay broken.

They don’t want you to evolve.

Because your growth forces them

to face their stagnancy.

And they’re not ready.

So they guilt you.

Mock your journey.

Say things like,

“You’ve changed.”

Yes. I have.

I had to.

They cannot hold you

in full bloom.

So you grow anyway.

And love them

from a distance

that honors you both.

You’re not cold.

You’re clear.

You’re not abandoning them.

You’re choosing you.

You can love people

and still leave them.

You can forgive people

and still never speak again.

You can hold compassion in one hand

and distance in the other.

Not every ending

is a failure.

Some are just

a season

closing

softly.