The Night and the Afterlight

(Soft hum, faint wind sounds)

The tide’s still cold…

You said love was like the sea —

Deep, cruel, and swallowing me.

⸻

I stood where the sky forgets to breathe,

Where the tide hums low, won’t look at me.

My phone was dead, the stars were fake,

And I couldn’t tell if I was awake.

I went back to where we used to run,

The moon half-hid, the night begun.

The wind still talks like it remembers you —

Or maybe it’s just what grief will do.

⸻

I called your name — no echo came,

Just silence whispering my shame.

⸻

There’s no sound in the dark,

Only ghosts where you are.

I swear I saw you in the waves,

Not your face, but the way you gave.

Your love — like fire wrapped in silk,

Now the ocean wears your guilt.

There’s no sound in the dark,

Just my breath, and it’s falling apart.

⸻

I brought a lighter, but not a flame,

The wind just laughed and said your name.

The sand still holds our footprints wrong —

One too deep, one nearly gone.

I tried to write your name again,

But even the sea forgets by then.

The ocean blinked — I swore I saw

The shape of you beyond the fog.

⸻

I don’t cry when people see,

But here the dark feels safe for me.

I’m not asking to go back,

Just for these cracks to mean what they lack.

⸻

I swear I saw you in the blue,

Felt the air pull just like you do.

Maybe you were never gone —

Or maybe I’ve been holding on.

No sound in the dark, just a scar,

Fading slow where memories are.

If you’re out there, don’t respond —

I’m not who you leaned upon.

(Echoed vocals)

“I swear I saw you…”

(Fading ocean sounds, then silence)