He Gave Me Diamonds, I Don't Wear Them Anymore

Someone once gave me diamonds.

Disguised as love, but laced with poison.

For a while, I believed they meant something real.

I thought they symbolized home.

That I was safe.

That I was warm.

That I was loved.

That I was special to him.

It wasn’t the diamonds I was drawn to.

It was the meaning I attached to them,

and the story I believed we were writing together.

But then our world exploded.

I don’t wear his diamonds anymore.

Not because I’m bitter.

Not because I’m broken.

But because I don’t need them.

I wear myself now.

I wear self-worth.

Self-respect.

Self-compassion.

Self-forgiveness.

I wear the love I give to myself.

The commitment I’ve made to healing,

to becoming better, brighter, stronger.

I wear my light.

My shine.

My sparkle.

My intelligence.

My artistry.

My giftedness.

My talent.

I wear my curiosity.

My voice.

My conversation that connects souls.

My laugh that fills a room.

I wear my truth.

And I wear my heart on my sleeve,

not because I’m fragile,but because I’m free.

Let him give diamonds to someone else.

Someone who still needs to believe they mean something.

As for me,

I don’t need to be adorned.

I am the adornment.

I don’t wear his diamonds anymore.

I wear me.

By Katherine Tatsuda

Katherine Tatsuda writes from the fire. Grief, loss, betrayal, survival, and from the quiet power of what comes after. Her work is rooted in radical vulnerability and the conversations most leaders and speakers avoid. She is the voice behind Reinvention Modeled, where clarity becomes strategy and healing becomes authenticity.