Seven Years

A poem that was shared with me from 2018 — to the person that wrote it, I hope that you’re living it up out there wherever you are. You taught me a lot. The poem illustrates the codependency and the ways in which it impacts an individual at such a young age. Common characteristics of co-dependency include things like : an exaggerated responsibility for the actions of others, tendency to do more than their share all of the time and a tendency to become hurt when their efforts go unrecognized.

Understanding this has taught me how to say “no”, to be loving yet tough, and how to be self reliant. While these tasks may sound very simple, it’s not always easy. Enjoy

captured through the eyes of Maki Oshiro Photography

“Seven Years”

Seven years is a long time

to be in love,

So long, that one becomes accustomed,

accustomed to its presence,

So accustomed that 

its absence would cause the sure to be unsure,

The strong to be weak,

And the loved to feel anything but.

Seven years is a long time 

to share with another,

A long time to not be alone,

It is a long time 

to be supported; 

One might forget

how to stand by their strength 

innate.

Seven years is long time 

to pour yourself into another,

pour. 

pour.

pour

until there is nothing left

of you,

An empty vessel.

But seven years is just a third,

a third of 21.

Soon, you will see.

Soon, you will heal

And soon, you will move on.

And then you’ll live.

And then you will know, 

That those seven years were not a waste,

But what they were always meant to be.

Love

Just like language

Is an ever evolving, living, moving, breathing thing

It doesn’t give up

It has no boundaries

It comes in waves. 

Just like the ocean, it is interconnected

It flows

It keeps going. 

It never gives up.” 

written by J.A.B.