THE MARK YOU LEFT

THE MARK YOU LEFT

You taught me how to whisper what I should’ve screamed,

How to dim my light so you’d stay in the room with me.

You made my heart tiptoe around your storms,

Pretending silence was some kind of love I should conform.

I learned to hold in everything I felt,

’Cause your distance taught me that my truth had to melt.

I learned to overthink every word I said,

’Cause loving you meant living inside my head.

And no, you’re not a villain in the dark…

But baby, you did leave marks.

Not bruises —

ghosts.

Not cuts —

echoes.

Not wounds —

but things I still feel when I’m alone.

You shaped me,

you shook me,

you broke pieces of me without meaning to.

You changed me,

you scarred me,

I’m not the same girl I was before you.

And that’s the truth I never said —

you left fingerprints on the parts of me that bled.

You mattered…

maybe too much for your own heart.

You hurt me…

and now I live with the mark.

You trained me to wait in the quiet for love,

To hope you’d show up when push came to shove.

You taught me patience —

or maybe hesitation —

’cause every message felt like a test of my dedication.

I learned to hide tears you never saw fall,

Learned to pretend your almost-love was enough to give my all.

You didn’t mean harm, but you didn’t stop it either,

And now I carry truths that only hurt when I breathe ’em.

No, you’re not evil —

just wounded, running scared…

But you left me holding pieces

you never repaired.

You shaped me,

you shook me,

you broke pieces of me without meaning to.

You changed me,

you scarred me,

I’m not the same girl I was before you.

And that’s the truth I never said —

you left fingerprints on the parts of me that bled.

You mattered…

maybe too much for your own heart.

You hurt me…

and now I live with the mark.

This isn’t blame,

this isn’t rage,

this is the story

you wrote on my ribcage.

You mattered.

God… you mattered so much

I bent myself quiet

just to feel your touch.

But now I see it:

truth doesn’t make you cruel…

It makes me human,

for loving you.

You shaped me,

you shook me,

you broke pieces of me without meaning to.

You changed me,

you scarred me,

but I’m stronger now because I made it through.

And here’s the truth you never heard —

you changed the meaning of my every word.

You mattered…

even when you left me in the dark.

You hurt me…

but you didn’t kill my heart.

I’m healing now —

living with the mark.