A lie rarely dies with the one who told it.
It lingers,
finding a home in the next person
who dares to believe.
Promises made too easily
leave strangers paying debts
they never agreed to carry.
The next honest voice
must answer for someone else's silence.
I've seen trust change its face.
It doesn't disappear
it just learns to stand farther back,
arms folded,
waiting for proof instead of hope.
People who were once gentle
begin to speak like they're expecting the worst.
Not because bitterness is who they are,
but because disappointment kept introducing itself
under different names.
The wounds no one can see
are often the ones that speak the loudest.
You hear them instead
in the pause before they answer,
in the way every promise is questioned,
in how they leave before hope asks them to stay.
Eventually,
anger starts sounding like wisdom,
and silence feels safer
than believing one more beautiful lie.
when promises
aren't etched in stone,
they drift away with the breeze.
words hold no meaning,
even if regurgitated
a thousand times.
with their pinky fingers,
interlocked,
he promised
he's all hers from now on,
after being caught
dead to rights sneaking around
with his paramour,
but the world knew
he wouldn't stay true,
that his word
isn't as good as 24-carat gold.
yet again, he did sell her
a kingdom built on blatant lies...
abandoned her
on the battlefield, naked.
the betrayal, brutal, cold
and cuts like a sharpened blade.
against her better judgment,
she exhaled on his latest promise
with relaxed assurance
only to taste
stinging disappointment and regret.
she's been made a fool of
once again,
but that was enough.
he'll never change.
the erosion of trust,
a relationship coup de grace.
the bridge of redemption,
of forgive-and-forget
burned beyond repair.
"What I have Learned about Broken Promises is Priceless." By Poet
As a young child,
friends would make a promise.
They would break their word,
followed by hurt.
The dating world was famous for this trick,
as boys loved to break their promise.
Did it make them feel powerful?
Maybe!
My dad was a very wise person,
he never made many promises.
Guess he knew the pain hiding behind words,
words that were unkept are friends with lies.
He would say,
we will see or maybe.
I knew if he had made me a promise,
it was guaranteed to be done.
So glad this lesson was learned as a child,
thanks dad.
Broken promises, broken heart,
Deep within sears the pain,
I trusted your truth from the start,
Instead you tied me to the train.
Drowned in the waves of feelings chained,
Like falling leaves, I am tossed,
Washed upon the shore, colourless and drained,
Unable to reclaim myself, my freedom lost.
Now every memory feels unstable,
I played by your rules, never fair or just,
Your words now just a bitter fable,
Now my life lies in the dust.
Smile and pretend everything is normal,
Laugh so the tears are disguised,
Withdraw deep within the abnormal,
All my dreams are denied.
How do I rebuild for a future?
How can something broken remain?
Can it be healed with a suture,
Or are feelings hardened by pain?
My life is stripped of all meaning,
Each thought pulls me further away,
No comfort is found in dreaming,
As I disappear a little more every day.
Cool calm soft serene
humble heart of mine
aching being lone,
as crack was shown
on once -made promise.
leaving a permanent bruise.
My heart beats are to pulsate
in slow rate as I’m alive till date.
Not expected tragic end of love.
Surely I didn’t deserve.
Flow of tears to start
piercing crust
of my wounded heart.
Wow secreted from tears-flow
yielded pearl of dolour to glow.
Fractured heart hard to be healed
The holes couldn’t be sealed.
Dreamy desires lost expectancy
Me sinking in deep despondency.
He promised me to be back by tomorrow .
Years had passed, my heart is now hollow.
For that ‘tomorrow’, I’m still awaiting -
My heart is sweating !
He promised me never to be apart,
but walked away leaving my broken heart.
she has closed up her soul
tighter than Fort Knox,
no lover has been able
to peel away the layers
like an onion petal
her heart broken,
lifeless,
by your broken promises
of love and marriage
while you were away
fighting in the war,
finding love abroad
to occupy your time.
she was here waiting...
planning the perfect wedding,
the perfect home.
white picket fence
in the country.
rose bushes and lush lawn
with a long gravel driveway.
now she struggles
to crawl out of bed,
and focus on getting
through the day.
her vivacious spirit gone....
her glow gone.....
all that's left
are hollow eyes
into emptiness.
your word was your bond
or that is what I believed
when you lied to me
I knew that your promises
were nothing but empty words
You built a castle out of breath,
And placed your trust inside its walls,
Defying gravity and death,
Before the sudden shadow falls.
You listened to the golden word,
And let it anchor in your chest,
The sweetest song you ever heard,
A gentle bird within its nest.
But words are vapor in the wind,
And vows can vanish overnight,
Leaving the fragile mind chagrined,
To watch the tether fade from sight.
That’s how the quiet fractures grow,
Inside the chambers of the mind,
When you believe in promises,
And leave all caution far behind.
The sharpest shatter comes from trust,
A sudden, heavy, crushing blow,
That turns the silver into dust,
And leaves you bleeding in the snow.
"Broken vows are like broken mirrors" — Richard Paul Evans*
Blossoms on Broken Glass
In one bright spring we met beneath the trees,
Where wind moved light through blossoms in the air,
You held my hands in mesmering rain’s tease.
My heart ran wild, a horse with no restraint,
Your smile made every shadow turn to light,
Our souls like cherry blossoms in the rain.
You pressed my cold hands to your chest so near,
And swore you’d stay with me through endless days,
“Return to me through all the passing years.”
“A thousand springs, and I will still be true,”
But time moved on, my hair turned grey with tears,
You never came, the promise broke in two.
Now Cheerblossom covers vows beneath my feet,
A life without love is desert without rain,
I dance alone where spring and silence meet.
The broken promise of love
led me to a lonely lifeless path
where the scale that weighs pain
was held by the hands of deceit
Once...love passed between our eyes
it felt real and warmly tender
this emotional gift of promise
was shared in moments of confessed surrender
never knowing how fragile a heartbeat was
how easily it flickers like moonlight
hidden behind drifting clouds
passing on a cold breeze of betrayal
breaking my bewildered heart
leaving only standing stones, soft with moss
as monuments to yesterday
around the pyre of my hearts borrowed corpse
its ashes carried off into a haunted darkness
where shadows hide and weep, for what was beautiful
it all ended in a silent faceless hush
before the saddest
violins began to play inside my heart
each cord a memory unraveling in pain
until the music faded away, never to be heard again
So, it is...the love I believed to be real
was an illusion
Hoarfrost on barbed wire
holds until the first blackbird
tests the silver thread—
The dawn was never asked, if
it intended to stay cold.
A gold wedding band
leaves an imprint underneath
beside weathered skin—
The pale pledge there lingers long
after finger tires of it.
Knots tied in dry strings
to remember promises
slowly surrender
when they're immersed in water
to the form they never lost.
The builder chooses
the straightest tree trunk for beams—
High in the branches
magpies nest in the curved limbs
that bow when wild winds arrive.
Seaweed on the rocks
remembers yesterday's tide
higher than today's—
No wave returns for its mark
only salt lingers there still.
A watermark sleeps
inside each folded message
with a hidden date—
that rises with candle warmth
to tell the truth, time knew well.
Snake held by its tail,
its mouth swinging so freely
circling round the arm—
Every vow has the same aim
to taste the hand that shaped it.
The face in the glass
nods before it answers back
they both know their names—
The one who made promises
has long become someone else.
Growing up, I don't recall
being promised anything.
Disappointments? Yes. Plenty.
Deceived or lied to? Yes, and yes.
Broken laws, broken rules, and broken toys;
Broken windows and broken hearts;
Broken bottles and broken bats;
Broken promises? Don't remember any.
It was either , "Yes, I will", or, "No, I won't".
They did their best, and that was enough.
People either delivered, or they did not.
They kept things clear and simple.
Hoping was huge. Promises? Small.
It is better to be a promising person
that to be a promised person.
So, I never had to say to mom, dad, or
Anyone, "But you p r o m I s e d!"
What about sunrise
What about the falling rain
What about the things you said
The things you said we were to gain
Everything we would gain
Crimson sky is cold
Empty promises you told
Now the light is grey
Watching futures fade away
Just shadows today
Broken words
Fading bird
Still I hear
What about sunrise
What about the falling rain
What about the things you said
The things you said we were to gain
Everything we would gain
Killing fields are wide
No more places left to hide
Is there still a time
Before we leave it all behind
The yours and mine
Broken words
Fading bird
Still I hear
What about sunrise
What about the falling rain
What about the things you said
The things you said we were to gain
Everything we would gain
Look at the ground
No holy sound
Left in this town
Tears coming down
What about sunrise
What about the falling rain
What about the things you said
The things you said we were to gain
Everything we would gain
What about sunrise
What about the falling rain
What about the things you said
The things you said we were to gain
Everything we would gain
Crimson sky is cold
Empty promises you told
Now the light is grey
Watching futures fade away
Just shadows today
Broken words
Fading bird
Still I hear
What about sunrise
What about the falling rain
What about the things you said
The things you said we were to gain
Everything we would gain
Killing fields are wide
No more places left to hide
Is there still a time
Before we leave it all behind
The yours and mine
Broken words
Fading bird
Still I hear
What about sunrise
What about the falling rain
What about the things you said
The things you said we were to gain
Everything we would gain
Look at the ground
No holy sound
Left in this town
Tears coming down
What about sunrise
What about the falling rain
What about the things you said
The things you said we were to gain
Everything we would gain
Born an Addict
With life
Given to me—
Flourishing,
With greatness
Within only
A slim chance
Upon birth.
Assuming instead
Identical fairness
Others achieve,
One destined
Years from now.
Born an addict,
Unable to keep
As chaos,
Its certain shadow,
Makes appearance.
Welcome, behold—
These broken,
As foreseen,
Promises.
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