New Beginnings

 "You were the victim"

"We were in the wrong, not you" 

"You did nothing wrong"

I never thought I would hear those words

from him.  

He would know better

than anyone.  

Twenty years later

and he is helping me seal a wound.

A wound he partially created

that I have struggled with for 

two decades. 

The guilt of those words I said. 

The shame of the mess they could have created. 

The way I fell for lies and manipulation when I knew better. 

He said it was not my fault. 

He told me the truth. 

He told me I was not to blame.  

That the shame I carried, 

the guilt,

was unwarranted.  

It was not my fault. 

I was the victim. 

They were wrong. 

Now I just need to convince myself.