“Because I love you,” is your only excuse. For why you left. Over and over. Because you love me, you didn’t want to hurt me. Little did you know, you were killing me. Because you loved me, you made me cry. And though the tears were real, the love was not. Because I loved myself, I had to let you go. And now every day, I grow stronger. Because I love myself, that is why I am free. The pain you made me feel, made me realize why I did what I did. “Because I love you,” is what I tell myself. That’s why.