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The Poems I Wasn’t Meant to Read

I found the page tucked in a book,
Its fold too neat, like care it took.
A poem, simple—sharp and cold,
A story inked but never told.

“I never loved him,” the first line read,
And something in me quietly bled.
Not anger, not a bitter tone—
Just a truth that stood there, all alone.

No fire, no fight—just frozen air,
A silence shaped like no one there.
Not a trace of me inside the frame,
Not even shadow tied to name.

Elsewhere, a hidden file—other notes,
One more poem that she wrote.
A man unknown, his presence far,
Drawn in lines too bold, too clear.

A laugh, a touch, a night of stars,
A place where nothing broke or scarred.
“So much between us left unsaid,”
“Now he’s married and a dad”
That final line just rang and bled.

And it was then I felt the sting—
Not just of him, but everything.
The weight of all we never voiced,
Of moments passed, of silent choice.

The dreams we named but never chased,
The goals that time and fear erased.
The plans we whispered half-awake,
Too fragile for the light to take.

The things we needed, never asked,
Desires buried, faces masked.
The nights we held but didn’t feel,
The love we wanted to be real.

And maybe that’s the cruelest cut—
Not lies, not lust, not breaking trust—
But words we held and never freed,
And poems I was never meant to read.

© 2025 Shawn Oen. All rights reserved.

I suddenly felt like
I needed to scream
or explode or
both.
I was hunched over
trying to coax a teeny tiny
***** into place,
listening to the two women
I work with be
scandalized by some girl
doing Onlyfans.
What a *****!? What does her man think?

Ugh YUCK SHUT UP
I wanted to burst.
Instead I hurried up
to finish this menial job.
I am surrounded by
boring people who
talk about boring ****
all day.
It is killing my soul.

I often wonder,
what happens when all the lovers die ?
Do they really turn into stars,
to shine bright in the night sky ,
far away from each other -forever.

Or do they turn into stardust, become one,
comes down to the earth
to be reborn,
to fall in love again ?

I didn't know..

Making you hate me could come so easy

I didn't know..

You'd walk away after promising to stay by my side

I didn't know..

You threw away the rest of our lives

What could I have done...?

To keep you as mine

What could I have done...?

To have you here by my side

You said forever...

But now I sit feeling empty

Did you stop writing poetry...

Or did you just block me?

I didn't even get to say goodbye...

I might still love you til

The day I die

I was bound in chains I could not see,
A prisoner to my own misery.
Whispers of doubt, a crushing weight,
The silent scream of a hopeless state.

I stood in shadows, cold and alone,
With nothing but silence to call my home.
My mind a battlefield, a ceaseless fight,
As day bled into dark, and dark into night.

The mirror showed me a ghost of despair,
A hollow stare with nothing to share.
No light within me, no fire to guide,
Just a wandering soul, nowhere to hide.

Pain was my blanket, fear my friend,
I asked if this was how it would end.
Would I be forever lost, unseen, unheard?
Would my heart stay numb, unfeeling, disturbed?

But even in the darkest of nights,
A flicker of hope would break through the fight.
A whisper, a question, a faint trace of will,
That begged me to rise, to fight, to feel.

"Why?" I asked, when surrender felt near,
"Why should I break, when life’s still here?"
A question so simple, but it tore me apart,
And from the ashes, a spark would start.

With trembling hands and a heart full of fear,
I clung to the light, though it seemed unclear.
Each day I crawled, one step at a time,
Climbing through chaos, through pain so prime.

The days grew longer, the nights more bright,
I learned to trust in the inner fight.
The pain was still there, but I held it tight,
A piece of my past, but not my light.

And now I stand, not unscathed, but free,
A warrior forged from the struggle to be.
I’ve learned that the flame never dies,
It flickers, it falters, but it still flies.

I know now that darkness can’t hold me forever,
That the questions are answers that guide us together.
From the depths of despair, I’ve come to believe,
That no matter the fall, I’ll always rise to achieve.

So I spread my wings, no longer bound,
In the light of my journey, I’ve finally found
That the power within, though tested and torn,
Is a fire that burns, and will never be mourned.