The signal is static, but the silence is worse,
two voices colliding in a long-distance curse.
The glow of the screen illuminates her face,
as she paces the floor of a lonely space.
It’s the absence, she says, her voice like a blade,
The lack of intent in the plans that you’ve made.
I’m not asking for diamonds or stars in the sky,
just the effort of showing up
not a maybe or why.
It’s like pulling a ghost through the eye of a needle,
while I’m left to carry the weight of the people
we promised we’d be when the world was a spark
"now I’m just a girl waiting alone in the dark."
The line crackles sharp with the weight of his breath,
as he fights off a feeling that’s colder than death.
"You don't let me shine," he fires back through the phone,
"Because you’ve already decided the seeds I have sown
aren't enough for the harvest you want right today.
You doubt every pocket, you block every way.
You look at my hands and you see they are bare,
so you treat every promise like smoke in the air."
He leans on his desk where the textbooks are piled,
the dreams of a student, frantic and wild.
"I’m still in the classroom, I’m still in the fight,
burning the candle at both ends of the night.
You forget that my now is a price I must pay,
to build you a later that won't fade away.
I can’t buy the world while I’m learning its laws,
but you find a failure in every small pause."
"I can only cater to a future," he cries,
with the grit of a man and the fear in his eyes,
"That is worth the promising, worth the long wait
but you’re judging the finish line right at the gate."
The call stays active, though nothing is said,
just two people dreaming in different beds.
One wanting the effort, the heat of the sun;
the other just wishing the race was already won.
~PJNK
Feb 25
Feb 25, 2026 at 9:10 AM UTC
The signal is static, but the silence is worse,
two voices colliding in a long-distance curse.
The glow of the screen illuminates her face,
as she paces the floor of a lonely space.
It’s the absence, she says, her voice like a blade,
The lack of intent in the plans that you’ve made.
I’m not asking for diamonds or stars in the sky,
just the effort of showing up
not a maybe or why.
It’s like pulling a ghost through the eye of a needle,
while I’m left to carry the weight of the people
we promised we’d be when the world was a spark
"now I’m just a girl waiting alone in the dark."
The line crackles sharp with the weight of his breath,
as he fights off a feeling that’s colder than death.
"You don't let me shine," he fires back through the phone,
"Because you’ve already decided the seeds I have sown
aren't enough for the harvest you want right today.
You doubt every pocket, you block every way.
You look at my hands and you see they are bare,
so you treat every promise like smoke in the air."
He leans on his desk where the textbooks are piled,
the dreams of a student, frantic and wild.
"I’m still in the classroom, I’m still in the fight,
burning the candle at both ends of the night.
You forget that my now is a price I must pay,
to build you a later that won't fade away.
I can’t buy the world while I’m learning its laws,
but you find a failure in every small pause."
"I can only cater to a future," he cries,
with the grit of a man and the fear in his eyes,
"That is worth the promising, worth the long wait
but you’re judging the finish line right at the gate."
The call stays active, though nothing is said,
just two people dreaming in different beds.
One wanting the effort, the heat of the sun;
the other just wishing the race was already won.
~PJNK