Kanye West says his divorce from Kim Kardashian feels ‘set on fire’ in new poem

“Divorce is like panting… Divorce is like suffocating / Barely breathing… As if you were set on fire for telling the truth and then branded a liar.”

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Kanye West, now officially known as Ye, shared the original poem on his Instagram on Saturday, giving more insight into how he’s coping after his divorce from Kim Kardashian.

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As you may know, Ye has been open about his dissatisfaction with the breakup ever since Kim, who filed for divorce from him last February, began dating her current boyfriend, Pete Davdison, in late October.

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Shortly after Kim and Pete were spotted together after their Saturday Night Live performance together that same month, Ye publicly dismissed the divorce outright, saying he “never even saw” the legal documents in an interview in early November.

He continued to make a number of grandiose gestures in an attempt to win Kim back despite her new relationship with Pete, including pleading with her to “immediately return” to him on stage at his concert in December.

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And things only escalated this year when Ye repeatedly called Pete and Kim over a series of deleted Instagram posts. He specifically targeted his ex’s parenting style, criticizing her for allowing their eldest daughter North, 8, to have a TikTok account run by Kim.

In fact, the issue of raising their four children—North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm—was a huge source of contention throughout their relationship and after their breakup, when they often clashed over different parenting methods.

In her only statement regarding the matter, Kim actually urged Ye to “constant attacks” last month after he denounced her for allowing North on TikTok. “Kanye’s obsession with trying to control and manipulate our situation in such a negative and public way only hurts everyone more,” she wrote.

Ye continued to refer to Kim as his “wife” as early as last month, sharing a series of private messages he received from her. In obvious text, the beauty mogul expressed fears for Pete’s safety and urged her ex to stop encouraging his fans to “yell” at him in public – which came after he called the actor “Skeet”, “garbage” and “asshole” online.

The rapper also shared a text he received from Pete himself, in which the comic apparently made it clear that he was not going to get between Ye and his kids.

Last week, a Los Angeles court declared Kim “legally single” after a drawn-out lawsuit with Ye, who reportedly refused to sign documents granting her legal status for months. A few hours later, the rapper released a disturbing music video for his song “Eazy”, in which a caricature figure of E kidnaps, decapitates and buries a cartoon version of Pete.

And in a new poem – or perhaps lyrics – shared a few days later, Ye reflected on the breakup for the first time since the news of Kim’s new legal status, giving fans more information on how he’s coping with the separation.

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In the article, apparently titled “DIVORCE”, Ye compares his feelings during the breakup to “full-blown Covid” and “walking on glass.”

“Divorce is like full blown Covid / Divorce seems like your doctor doesn’t know shit / Divorce is like [you’re] walk on glass,” writes E.

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He then compares the split to “running through a glass wall”, “bullying in the classroom”, and “being beaten up at the mall”.

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Ye continues: “In a divorce, it feels like your hand is burned on a stove / In a divorce, it feels like your soul is being dragged over the coals.”

Yeh then goes on to talk about his feelings about his children and Kim’s children: “At a divorce, it feels like your kids have been ripped out of your control / At a divorce, it feels like you got shot and traffic is difficult,” he writes.

He continues: “Divorce feels like heavy breathing / Divorce feels like grandma never recovered from that cold / Divorce is suffocating / Barely breathing.”

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“During a divorce, you feel like you get a spiritual spanking every night / In a divorce, you feel like you worked overtime all week and weren’t allowed to rest on the weekends,” he adds.

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Ye describes feeling “broken into a thousand pieces” and, in the next line, “set on fire for your truth and then branded a liar” before moving on to describe feeling that he “can’t breathe” as a result of being shattered.

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“During a divorce it feels like you can neither sit nor stand / Divorce feels like you can’t breathe / Divorce feels like you can neither stay nor go,” he writes.

He adds, “Who are you to have an opinion about your life / You’re not you anymore / You’re what’s left of you.”

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The album’s predecessor, Donda (released in August), provided important information about the breakup of Ye and Kim’s marriage, so fans weren’t surprised to hear that Donda 2 would likely document Ye’s post-breakup feelings.

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In Donda 2’s first song, titled “Security”, Ye apparently referred to a fight he had with Kim in January over arrangements for their daughter Chicago’s fourth birthday. At the time, in a series of videos posted online, Ye claimed that he was not invited to the birthday party and that he was “not allowed” to know where it was. He also apparently accused the Kardashian family of “deliberately taking fathers out of the house.”

A few days before the birthday party, Ye stated in an interview that the guards at Kim’s house denied him access to their children, claiming that the “new boyfriend” – aka Pete – was inside at the time.

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A month after the birthday party, Ye released “Security” in which he raps, “Daddy home, I’m not being searched / I’m putting your safety at risk… I’m walking in the crib without being searched / The kitchen is making grits / Tell your mom: “Come on, kiss me” / Security needs security for this.

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Later in the song, Ye continues to make harsher attacks on his ex and Pete, rapping, “Never take a family photo off the fridge / Never stand between a man and his kids.”

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