Won’t Wear a Ring That Costs Me Myself

I’ve seen what happens

when love turns into survival.

I’ve watched women smile in public

and shrink in private.

I’ve seen children grow up

learning how to be quiet

instead of how to be loved.

And I made a decision—

not out of fear…

but out of understanding.

I will not wear a ring

that requires me to disappear.

I will not call it love

if it costs me my peace.

I will not stay

just so the world can say I did.

Because I’ve seen what courage looks like.

I watched my mother choose freedom

when it would have been easier to stay.

And I’ve seen what love looks like

when it’s done right.

So no—

I’m not waiting for perfection.

But I am waiting for truth.

The kind of love

that doesn’t ask me to survive it…

but allows me to live inside it.