Write Under the Moon #9 Poetry Challenge

Letting Go of Him

I couldn’t save him from himself

Image by Gisela Merkuur from Pixabay

I tried — oh, how I tried
to save him from himself
Defeated I let go
so not to lose myself

I told him when I left
I wouldn’t be coming back,
not like I had before
to have another crack…

…at living life with him

It took me years to see
and longer to accept
that his abusive dad
I never could exempt

For I was powerless
to fight the evil foe,
the negative spirit
that wouldn’t let him go

My life changed forever
when I left home that night
I freed myself from him
and now I take delight…

…at living life with me

© Carolyn Hastings 2025

The last three lines are more wishful thinking than reality. I’m not there yet, and I may never be, but I hope, in time, that life lived on my own is more peaceful than the trials of the past few years trying to save a marriage that was, unbeknownst to me, doomed from the beginning.

When Tree Langdon invited me to take up her ‘letting go’ poetry challenge, I responded, ‘Where do I start’? Letting go of the man I married was only part of what I’ve let go of. I might write about it one day but not now…

…not after reading Jenine Bsharah Baines’ message this morning about her daughter’s home being burned down in the Pasadena wildfires which are still raging out of control. I think about all the ‘letting go’ that the survivors of these bushfires — and other natural disasters — must reconcile within their hearts and minds.

My heart bleeds for them. 💔

I know what it means to start again with very little but, for me at least, I have enough and for that, I will forever be grateful…