Walk Away Quietly

Now let me talk it through with you

I don’t usually open wounds, I just move,

Smile stitched tight, pain tucked out of view,

I been bleeding quietly, how ‘bout you?

Days blur together, nights stretch thin,

Wide awake fighting thoughts I’m buried in,

I mastered showing up while fading inside,

Learned how to breathe while dead in my mind.

I walk past mirrors like I owe ‘em money,

Can’t stand eye contact, feels too confronting,

Crowds feel loud even when they’re silent,

Every stare feels sharp, every breath feels violent.

I keep my head down, hoodie up tight,

So nobody asks if I’m losing the fight,

I don’t want saving, don’t want advice,

Just want the noise in my chest to go quiet.

Going through life, living in a daze,

Avoiding the crowds, ignoring everybody’s gaze,

I wander through the world and it’s all a blurry haze,

Counting through the reasons,

Listing all the ways

That I lost it,

Not proud to admit

That I shoulda quit,

Sometimes, you just gotta walk away.

Yeah, I disappear just to keep my shape,

Sometimes staying hurts more than escape.

I stayed too long where I wasn’t okay,

Called it loyalty, called it “I’ll be fine someday,”

I wore exhaustion like a badge of pride,

Let it eat me alive from the inside.

I told myself pain was part of the deal,

That breaking down meant I wasn’t real,

But there’s a difference between being strong

And letting the damage go on too long.

I been drowning slow in familiar water,

Afraid to leave ‘cause it felt like failure,

But every night I felt a little less me,

Like I was shrinking just to keep the peace.

I replay moments I should’ve left,

Every ignored red flag etched in my chest,

I don’t regret love, I regret neglect—

Of myself when I needed me best.

Sometimes walking away ain’t weakness,

It’s choosing to live with what’s left of you,

You don’t owe your soul to every season,

Some doors close ‘cause they’re killing you.

I didn’t quit ‘cause I couldn’t endure,

I left ‘cause surviving started to hurt more.

Now I’m learning how to sit with the quiet,

It’s uncomfortable, but at least it’s honest,

No more forcing smiles I don’t believe in,

No more staying just to stop the bleeding.

I still hurt, yeah, I still feel lost,

Still pay for decisions, still count the cost,

But I breathe a little easier each step back,

Turns out peace don’t come from staying cracked.

They won’t understand why I had to go,

They didn’t hear the thoughts I live with alone,

I don’t need approval, I needed relief,

Needed distance so I wouldn’t completely break.

If I vanish, it’s not to punish you,

It’s to save the parts I was losing too,

Sometimes the bravest thing you say

Is knowing when to walk away.