Where I Stand

Where I Stand

This is where I stand
Not in judgment
Not in isolation

This is where I stand
With my own two legs
Upon my own two feet

This is where I stand
With no one below me
But everyone around me

Everyone I've loved
Everyone I've cared about
Everyone who has loved me
Everyone, except one

The one I believed
To be the one
This one is nowhere to be seen
This one is not so much
As remembered

In this one's place
Are the lessons learned
The growth
The development
But not this one

For I cannot stand
So long as this one
Is ever more again
Than a lesson

This one's eyes
Hair, smile, and charm
All lost to the shadows
Of my scars

It's the scars
That teach me
It's the scars
That stand beside me

The scars
Not her.