Little Voices in My Head

I forgive you. All of you.  
Not because you asked
or need
or even want it.
Still, I forgive you.  

I forgive you, ____.
Every broken promise, every broken dream.
All the cruel lies, and even cruler insults.
The loss, the hurt, the degredation.
I forgive.

I forgive you, ____. 
All the times you called me a whore.
All the assumptions you made about me, my motives, my heart.
All the wishes you made I’d never been born.
All the dirty looks.
Forgiven.

I forgive you, ____.
For making your choice, and it wasn’t me.
All the lies.
For making me a dirty little secret.
For loving me incompletely.
I forgive you.

I forgive you, ________.
For leaving me so lonely.
All the words you said.
I forgive you.

I have to forgive you.
Not because YOU deserve it, but because I deserve it.
I cannot become
Bitter. Angry. Alone.
So I forgive you, all of you,
Because without you,
I would never learn.
I need to forgive you. To become the woman I am meant to be.
Me.