Details |
Joshua Janke Poem
The woman I met
was nothing like the woman I watched myself destroy.
She loved loud.
No hesitation.
No games hidden behind her ribs.
She handed me her heart
like it had never been broken before.
And me?
I kept both hands on the guard around mine,
clutching old scars
like they were proof I deserved to bleed alone.
I called it protection.
Truth was,
I was more afraid of being loved
than being left.
Years passed.
She stayed patient through every cold silence,
every half-love,
every moment I made her question herself
just because I couldn’t face what was rotting inside me.
She gave me space to heal.
Stayed close without asking for too much.
Separate—
but somehow never apart.
And the worst part is
her presence felt like home.
The kind that quiets the noise in your head.
The kind that makes a broken man believe
maybe he isn’t beyond saving.
But love kept starving beside my fear.
So when I finally dropped my guard,
when I finally opened my eyes,
the woman standing in front of me
wasn’t the woman I met.
She was tired.
Bruised by my distance.
Damaged by the walls I swore were there to protect me.
Careful with her emotions now.
Measured. Controlled.
Like loving me taught her
what pain feels like.
The silence between us got heavier.
You could hear regret breathing in it.
Now I stand here
with my chest split open,
trying to give her every piece of me
I used to hide.
But she can’t take it.
Not because she never loved me—
but because she did for too long.
And now
I’m the one looking insane,
begging at the door
of a heart I taught to lock me out.
Copyright © Joshua Janke | Year Posted 2026
|
Details |
Joshua Janke Poem
As I turn away, no tears left to cry
We should’ve talked—I tried before goodbye
The love we laid to rest, now marked in chalk
Not all your fault, not mine—we both did our best
I keep what’s left locked deep inside
A place in me where you still hide
Copyright © Joshua Janke | Year Posted 2026
|
Details |
Joshua Janke Poem
I’ve kept putting you last,
never my intention.
Thought we could always circle back.
Another rescue, another distraction—
until my own foe rose up to attack.
He only wanted peace,
and I was the one holding it back.
Didn’t notice the cracks spreading
until the whole began to sway.
Buried so deep the surface never showed
until it finally gave way.
In the rubble I saw the truth:
the foe had won.
But somehow… so had I.
The enemy was me—
buried beneath every “I’ll be back soon,”
honest at first,
until they turned into lies.
It took the fall to finally see:
I wasn’t fighting anyone else.
I was abandoning me.
Copyright © Joshua Janke | Year Posted 2026
|