I Stayed Too Long

I don’t miss you

I miss the person I became

When I thought you were staying

When my heart still knew your name

You left quietly

Like I wasn’t worth the sound

Just one day I was your home

The next, I was background

I keep replaying moments

Trying to find the crack

The second where I loved you more

Than I could ever get back

I gave you my future

Before I gave it a thought

Now I live in the aftermath

Of everything we weren’t

I don’t cry the way I should

It just settles in my chest

Like grief that learned to whisper

So it doesn’t wake the rest

You were the place I ran to

When the world got hard to stand

Now the world feels endless

And I’ve got no place to land

So how do you survive

When love was your only plan?

I didn’t just lose your arms

I lost who I was becoming as your man

I would’ve stayed through anything

Through silence, storms, and doubt

You didn’t have to break me

You just had to walk out

Now every dream feels dangerous

Every promise feels untrue

I don’t know how to love again

Without turning into you

If you ever think of me

Know I loved you past the end

I stayed even when it hurt

You left before I could pretend

And one day I’ll say I’m better

But tonight I’ll tell the truth

I didn’t just lose your love

I lost myself trying to keep you