Cyclebreakers: A Poem and Letter of Hope
Poem:
Give your heart, if you can,
to someone who knows
what it's like to live without one—
who understands emptiness
where love should have grown,
who learned to survive
in a world that taught them
to hurt or be hurt,
to hide their wounds behind silence,
to build walls instead of bridges.
There are reasons—
deep, tangled roots—
why someone becomes the victimizer,
why men and women alike
are targeted,
why pain passes from hand to hand,
generation to generation.
Sometimes it's to avoid being next in line,
sometimes because the world
never taught them another way.
Abuse is a cycle,
spinning through families,
through friendships,
through communities.
It is not random—
it is learned,
it is survival,
it is fear turned outward
when there is nowhere else to run,
when mercy is rare
and kindness is rationed.
But justice is not a prison,
not a chain to bind the broken—
it is a chance,
a hope,
a hand reaching back
to those still trapped.
Justice is watching someone
who once harmed
choose to heal,
to help,
to change the story for someone else.
There is no greater justice
than a heart that once broke others
learning to mend—
to reach out for those
still caught in the storm,
to show them
another way out.
Forgiveness is not easy,
nor is forgetting—
no one is owed your peace.
But if we can face
the pain we've caused
and the pain we've carried,
if we can help mend
what we once helped break,
then maybe,
together,
we can break the cycle
and finally be free.
Letter:
Dear Survivors, Dear Cyclebreakers,
Whether you have been hurt, or have hurt others, you are not alone. The world can be harsh, and sometimes it shapes us in ways we never wanted. Some of us learned to survive by building walls, by fighting back, by passing on pain we never deserved in the first place. Others have been caught in the crossfire, forced to carry wounds that were never theirs to bear.
But there is hope. The cycle of abuse can end—with you, with us, together. Justice is not about punishment alone. True justice is about transformation. It's about finding the courage to face what's been done, to offer a hand to those still suffering, and to choose a different path, even when it's hard.
If you are a victim, know that your voice matters. Your healing matters. You are not defined by what happened to you.
If you have caused harm, know that you can choose to change. You can help others heal, and in doing so, begin to heal yourself.
Let us stand together, victims and victimizers alike, not as enemies, but as people who refuse to let pain define our future. Let us break the cycle, not just for ourselves, but for everyone who comes after us.
Let us be the generation that chooses compassion over cruelty, understanding over judgment, and healing over harm.
Together, we can build a world where the cycle ends, and freedom begins.
With hope,
A Fellow Believer in Change
Do you agree with the statement:
"You have to first learn to love yourself again before you can truly break the cycle of abuse"?
Options:
Yes, I completely agree—self-love is essential to breaking the cycle.
I somewhat agree, but I think other factors are just as important.
I'm not sure—I need to think more about it.
No, I believe healing can happen without self-love.
I don't understand what this means.
Shaka Senghor, who spent 19 years in prison for second-degree murder, wrote:
"I had to learn to forgive myself before I could even think about asking for forgiveness from those I hurt. Until I did, I kept repeating the same patterns, hurting myself and others."
If you'd like, please share your thoughts or experiences in the comments.
My thought is this it's easy to be angry it's easy to want revenge what takes courage is to want redemption and to want your story to be the reason it ends The NeverEnding story of pain for so many people not just you but for the victims after.
Anybody can choose to act like a n***** I hate that word I really do but it's an action or a lack of action it's not a color! The White House should know lol 😂 Trump has a hit out on him can somebody tell the idiot please.... That (/~/) ear shot it was caught on film ERT xi that u try n zip my lips but did I see my vag ? No great Prince hiss put X he grabbed her while u were see s trac t ed! Oh daddy issues Warbucks what you going to do sign my part and that's what I thought you said para don e hi! Oh I know I have diplomatic immunity but so do all of them and that didn't stop your government from throwing them illegally in jail well attempting to I'm not sure they were successful