I learned to disappear quietly
So no one would notice the sound
Of my heart giving up little pieces
Every time I let someone down
I folded my feelings smaller
Until they fit under my skin
I told myself “this is normal”
Like breaking was something to win
There’s a hole where my name should feel steady
Where I used to know who I was
Now I look at old photos and wonder
How I ever smiled because
I miss the version of me
That believed I mattered somehow
That thought being loved was a promise
Not a hope that wears out
People say time is forgiving
But it just teaches you how
To live with the weight of remembering
What you don’t have now
I talk to the ceiling at night
Because it never walks away
I ask it why loving so deeply
Always ends this way
I gave everything I had
Until there was nothing left
Now I’m exhausted from holding
A pain I never addressed
If you asked me how I’m doing
I’d lie without thinking twice
Because explaining the truth
Feels worse than paying the price
I’m not asking for saving
Or for someone to stay
I just wish it didn’t hurt this much
To exist every day
Some nights I feel so replaceable
Like I was easy to lose
Like my absence was simple
Like I was never chosen
I learned to disappear quietly
Because being seen hurt more
But even invisible people
Still feel everything they’re ignored