The Toothbrush

Hayley Quinn Poetry

I hope you will enjoy this poem that was very personal and emotional to write. Please enjoy reading “The Toothbrush”.

There is a picture I can’t quite delete

Belonging in a drawer

A toothbrush re-appropriated

That was supposed to be yours

A simple cork now has meaning:

A negative ratio

A word stumbles out of my mouth,

That before I didn’t know

I’ve been told to put you in a box

And pack up all of you

To throw away my hope

Burn a letter or two

But I can’t just control alt del

Even if I wanted to

You live as a WhatsApp status

Facebook I should unfriend

A meant comment I can’t unlike

You can’t just unplug the end

You have to “ride it out”

“Youll laugh about this soon”

“Time is a healer”

“I know just the person for you”

I know you can’t wait on an echo

Unpack that drawer.

But you’re as real to me today

As you were before.

You’re lost somewhere in my head

I will dream of you

And on the other end of that thread

I know you’ll dream of me too

“The toothbrush” afterthought

This poem deals with the difficulties of ‘moving on’. After a break up you may find that you’re hit with a bunch of unhelpful suggestions from friends and family about how to ‘mind over matter’ your way through your heartache.

At the same time, you’re probably constantly reminded by them (‘oh my God that was his toothbrush!’) as you try to come to terms with the shift in your life.

It is natural after a break up for your attachment system to go a bit haywire and want to ‘re-attach’. It will take some time for your mind to catch up with the fact he’s not there anymore, or potentially never was in the first place.

A break up is a grieving process. It isn’t as simple as switching a lightbulb off. This is only made worse in an information age where the person you were with is constantly alive online.

My advice?

Accept you feel sad, be kind to yourself, and as soon as you can blackout contact from him. I know you’re going to want to re-engage but until you feel sorted it’s just a million times easier on you to get back into your own space. Honestly, one truth here is that time is a healer and you’ll find as the days go by the feeling of ‘I still love him!’ will be replaced with ‘I am SO GLAD that guy is not in my life anymore’ to (hopefully) ‘I feel kind of neutral about it all..’

If you’re in this space right now I feel for you. I have an amazing community online too that can help to advise and support you through the breakup and back into a relationship that actually fulfils your needs.

To find out more details and try it out for free head to my HQ Club page!

Lots of love

Hayley xx