Love, Longing & Loss — In Five Pieces

A short collection of poems on heartbreak, longing, and unspoken tenderness.

Photo by ismail yazıcı on Unsplash

This post has been updated from its original version.¹

These five poems were written across different moments in my life, but they all carry a similar weight — the ache of wanting, of remembering, of not knowing what to do with what’s left behind.

I recently went back to revisit poems I had shared on Instagram years ago. Some just needed a little dusting. Others, a tender touch or two.

As I continue finding my voice again, I’ll be bringing more of my Substack work to Instagram — and more of my Instagram work here.

Writing and sharing these helped me feel a little less alone in the heartbreak.

Maybe they’ll do the same for you.

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Determined effort

Years of determined effort
to prove my value for you,
yet not an instant to ask
if you were worthy of me.

---

Flirty, dirty melody

How have we kept dancing this long,
a flirty, dirty melody,
yet neither daring the first step?

---

Heartbreak's gifts

Love has given me nothing but heartbreak,
what has heartbreak given me in its place?

It has given me beauty,
it has granted me inspiration
and it has gifted me with art.

Heartbreak has given me so much,
surely more than love ever would.

What heartbreak hasn't given me…
is you.

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I know…

I know I talk too much.

I load my words with fragments
pulled from forgotten emotional depths,
then hand this weight to you.

I know it's a lot to bear.

And yet, everything I've uncovered
barely scratches what's still beneath—
countless layers hardened
by time and silence.

---

The risks of my affection

Beware, my dear,
the treacherous risks
of my affection:
From contemplative stares,
to elusive giggles
and countless, silent smiles.

Mere harmless gestures,
mere harmless prelude
to the real peril:
An assault of sudden,
vicious
kisses.

---

If any of these lines linger with you, let them. That’s what they’re meant for.

And if you’d like to read more poems like these — or short stories, or journal entries — you can follow me here on Substack, or on Instagram where I’m sharing again.

Thank you for reading. Truly.

1. This collection has been updated to include individual poem titles and refined language while preserving the emotional essence of each piece, as part of my ongoing commitment to craft refinement and stylistic consistency.