Crutch (a poem)

Crutch

You were falling
I loved you
So I let you use me
As your crutch

Your weight
Leaned down on me
Straining me, heavy
Cracking me, heavier

I gritted my teeth
And took it
Until I couldn't take it
Anymore

I withdrew myself
Before your world of problems
Shattered me
It was your fault

Your fault, not mine
I did all I could
When I left
You hit the ground hard

Unbalanced without your crutch
You hit hard
But amazingly
Picked yourself up

You are able
To walk without me
Surprising yourself
That it's even possible

All along
All you had to do
Was help yourself
Yet you still leaned on me

Straining me, heavy
Cracking me, heavier
You hurt me
In your selfishness

Should have just
Left sooner
I can't forgive you
Not yet

But you can never
Really heal or
Remove your cast
Until you forgive yourself

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This poem is about a friend who hurt me in a terrible way, and thought I'd never be able to forgive. He had his problems, and like a good friend I helped, but it went bad and turned into dependency on his part, leading to some poor decisions.
I have recently been able to forgive him, thanks to a favorite teacher of mine at pal-mac and learning about Gandhi and some of his moralistic teachings, one of which is forgiveness.