The Endings of Things

This poem started out as one thing, and it ended up feeling far too raw and personal to share, so I worked really hard to crystallize it into something shorter and hopefully more relatable.

The Endings of Things

Katy Scott
2025

Life is heartbreak, princess.
Anyone telling you otherwise is selling something.

Lesson un: Secrets.
You can ruin a singular possibility through fear and inaction.

Lesson deux: The safe bet.
The end can be a gift in disguise.

Lesson trois: Guilt.
You might not even remember mourning.

Lesson quatre: Crash and burn.
Years pass, and no one will really ever understand.

Lesson cinq: La nostalgie.
Parfois, le timing est merdique.

Lesson six: Courage, mon ami.
I took the leap, I flew, I was beautiful. I still am.

Lesson sept: You’re never done.
Endings happen over and over in exquisitely different ways.
People fade away, dogs cross the rainbow bridge, democracies fall.
It never, ever stops.

Lesson huit: Transform.
The endings will sink into your bones, hardening their resolve
Leaving soft places hidden at your core.
Where you are hard and soft will always surprise you.

Fin: Choices.
You lie in the field, winter wind whispering through the dried grass.
Will it twine itself through your cracked heart,
Leaving you as still and cold as the buried stones?
Or will you crawl until you can stand,
Fragile as paper and glass,
And make your way to the fire to find your hard and soft places?