Second choice

I'm the shadow, not the flame

Running laps in a borrowed game

I reach out, but the prize keeps drifting

Paper heart no one's lifting

Fingers brushed—never stayed

A spark too soft to make a blaze

Always second choice or not at all

Scaling hopes just to fall

Counting hours with an empty face

Uninvited in this race

Always second choice or not at all

I remember being wanted once

Felt like more than just a response

Warmth was there, then it slipped right through

Like it never had roots, like it never was true

Every glance—a fading ghost

Present, but never close

Always second choice or not at all

Scaling hopes just to fall

Counting hours with an empty face

Uninvited in this race

Always second choice or not at all

Every time I swear I'm finished

Heartbeat dimmed, devotion thinned

Then there you come—silver tongue, easy grin

Selling hope like a tailored sin

You drink my light like borrowed wine

Take what's warm, leave what's mine

You build a throne out of what I give

Then seat another where I live

I keep falling for the sweet pretense

The curated charm, the art of offense

You hold my heart just long enough

To teach it how to break and trust

It isn't rage, it isn't grief

It's that hollow space beneath belief

I'm the rehearsal for your devotion

A spark you test before explosion

Brushed aside, but soft—not broken

Living proof of words unspoken

Always second choice or not at all

Scaling hopes just to fall

Counting hours with an empty face

Uninvited in this race

Always second choice or not at all

Here I stand, unseen, complete

An echo that still finds its beat

Call me second, call me none

Still I burn when they come undone