I have lived this heartbreak before,
the trembling faith in a smiling lie.
He said I was special, and I believed…
just as they do now,
waiting for promises
to heal the wound he made.

Trust is the sweetest poison,
when poured from a gilded cup.
I drank deeply once as they do now.
The aftertaste is the same…
bitter ashes and shame filled silence.

A nation learning the shape of betrayal,
each heart a mirror of my own.
The con was never new
only the costume has changed.

Once, I mistook pain for devotion,
chains for closeness.
Now I watch the world
learn the same lesson,
and I tenderly whisper,
“you will rise from this.”