{"id":286,"date":"2025-11-20T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stephanietobola.com\/blog\/?p=286"},"modified":"2026-06-24T23:28:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T04:28:45","slug":"love-me-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stephanietobola.com\/blog\/writing\/love-me-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Love Me Better"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"940\" height=\"788\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stephanietobola.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Blog-53-Love-Me-Better-11.20.2025.png\" alt=\"Slowly, I feel the cold inky fingers of darkness entwine. This struggle against submission\u2019s soft caress has me flirting with a dangerous line.\" class=\"wp-image-287\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stephanietobola.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Blog-53-Love-Me-Better-11.20.2025.png 940w, https:\/\/www.stephanietobola.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Blog-53-Love-Me-Better-11.20.2025-300x251.png 300w, https:\/\/www.stephanietobola.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Blog-53-Love-Me-Better-11.20.2025-768x644.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 940px) 100vw, 940px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You left me here. With understanding I stay safely tucked in this place of discarded things surrounded by your forgotten dreams. Each ticking of the minute hand pulses shivers of fear. Waiting, I watch as shadows creep near.&nbsp; Slowly, I feel the cold inky fingers of darkness entwine. This struggle against submission\u2019s soft caress has me flirting with a dangerous line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I divide in two. There is the me I was and then there\u2019s me with you. A delicate balance between two romances. All my hope is held in glimpses and glances of intimate dances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Love me better. Because there are no second chances<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Saved for later promises stacked neatly in a drawer. Yearnings, desires, and maybes all like sparkling treasures you hoard. Years of stealing quiet morning moments to explore. Peering out, I watch as you lift and fill everyone up with your chipped empty cup. Ever so gently, time has begun touching your face framing you with strands of silver grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Three of me. There is the me I was, the me with you, and the me I have to be. Rooted in this for granted place, maintaining a steady pace. Solid and constant never the one to stray. Blending with these familiar shadows, am I fading grey? Watching my once vibrant dreams wither I fight the turn to bitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Love me better. But screams now a whisper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Framed accomplishments on walls surround boasting a job well done. Well, on all but one. Dust covered in this spectator seat I cautiously await your next feat. A season for everything, Solomon said. Echoes of dreams propel on a careful tread.&nbsp; Slipping silently toward that long-locked door letting light through the now cracked seams pour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finding one. Just me with you. Rekindled inspiration illuminates. Unsteady hands embrace reacquainting what responsibility once replaced. As reunion settles in the golden rays and to my reflection, I say\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Love me better, starts today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You left me here. With understanding I stay safely tucked in this place of discarded things surrounded by your forgotten dreams. Each ticking of the minute hand pulses shivers of fear. Waiting, I watch as shadows creep near.&nbsp; Slowly, I feel the cold inky fingers of darkness entwine. This struggle against submission\u2019s soft caress has&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","category-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stephanietobola.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stephanietobola.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stephanietobola.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stephanietobola.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stephanietobola.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.stephanietobola.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":289,"href":"https:\/\/www.stephanietobola.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286\/revisions\/289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stephanietobola.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stephanietobola.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stephanietobola.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}