Stolen name

I kept you breathing in a back room of my mind

Fed you silence, called it time

Told myself you’d circle back

Told myself I didn’t crack

I wore your name down to the bone

Made a home out of alone

Every year I let it grow—

God, I should’ve let you go

I rehearsed this moment every night

Every word, every line

Then your name lit up my phone—

I swear I almost dropped it

Heart like it was years ago

Like somehow I could stop it

I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t see

Everything came back to me

I thought you finally broke the silence—

…yeah, I thought you’d come find me

But it wasn’t you

No—it wasn’t you

Just some stranger in your skin

Talking like he’s let inside

Like he gets to wear your name

Like it doesn’t mean a thing

Like he didn’t just dig up

Everything I tried to hide

He don’t know what he touched

He don’t know—he don’t know—

That name is not his to use

That voice is not his to choose

I buried that, I carried that—

Who the hell is he to move it?

You don’t get to take her place

You don’t get to wear her face

You don’t get to light that fire

AND JUST WALK AWAY

Maybe you’re gone—

Maybe you’ve been gone

Maybe I built you out of nothing just to not feel alone

Maybe this is what I get

For never killing off regret

For keeping ghosts on life support

And calling that “not done yet”

No—no—no—no—

Give it back

Give it back

Give it BACK

That’s not yours

That’s not yours

SAY IT’S NOT YOURS

You don’t know what it cost me

You don’t know what it took

You just found a name online

I built a life around that look

I waited—

I waited—

I WAITED—

And you just—what—log in?

Like it’s nothing?

Like I’m nothing?

If I find you—

If I hear you—

If I see your face—

I swear to God I’ll—

(beat / silence)

…

You should’ve left her gone.