M (via e-mail)
A very real, raw and authentic account of an extremely painful period of your life. One can truly appreciate your vulnerability and openness of what crushing emotional pain looks like. Without minimising your experience, it somehow gives insight and hope to know that men are capable of loving like that too. We always hear of the women who suffered at the hand of a nasty man. But to read from the perspective of a man who has experienced broken love like this, well let’s just say it reignites my half-resigned optimism that I unrealistically acquired from the likes of Jane Austen and Brontë.
The pirates of this world pillage through hearts on their journey of self-satisfaction. But somehow, as cruel as they can be in their actions, how awful it must be to live in that head of theirs. Again, not to minimise, but imagine being them? Surely, deep down, they wallow in the emptiness that can never be satisfied by breaking another. An easy and relatable read – and yes, ‘thank you’ for not allowing others (who have also been afflicted by pirates), to feel alone – including myself. I too experienced a time that felt ‘haunted’ by someone who was no longer there. Those ghosts will follow you around and stick to you like red-hot super glue, as long as we let them.