They say dark chocolate is the taste of maturity —
bitter on the tongue,
but sweet in the end.
I never understood that,
until I lived through the kind of love
that doesn’t last.
When promises dissolved like sugar in water,
and meetings turned into long, aching silences.
You once gave me a bar of dark chocolate
on Valentine’s Day,
and said:
“Love is like this —
sometimes you have to taste the bitterness
before you find the sweetness.”
I only smiled then.
I was too young to know
that someone could speak of love so gently,
and then disappear without a word.
Years later,
on a cold afternoon,
I bought another bar of dark chocolate.
Not for the memories,
but to remember the taste
of a time when I still believed.
As the chocolate slowly melted,
its bitterness stung at first,
but then a soft sweetness bloomed —
just enough to make me smile.
I realized
no pain is ever wasted;
it only needs time
to turn into aftertaste.
Love,
even when it’s gone,
can still leave sweetness behind —
if you learn to taste it like dark chocolate:
slowly,
and with your whole heart. 🍫
