When I think of the ones who’ve broken my heart

In all my life, even if I didn’t know it then

There exists a common thread between their stories

In that someone else in their lives had already broken them

 

Does it make it easier, I wonder, to forgive yourself

For intentionally doing harm to someone else

If you go through life always keeping score

And paying forward everything you’ve suffered yourself

 

If suffering is a socially transmitted disease

Do you get to choose whether to be a carrier

I’ve heard it said, and I know that some people truly believe

When it comes to misery, “the more the merrier”

 

But once you realize you’re not immune to pain

Some seek to build up a tolerance, of a kind

Choosing to expose ourselves to opportunities for suffering

Hoping that will make us stronger, for next time

 

Like clinical trials for the chronically brokenhearted

We agree to trade our time, sanity, and safety for insight

But maybe we should be more careful what we give away

Because understanding what went wrong doesn’t make it right