and i have whispered
as if you were near,
about how much i loved you
and everything that you hold dear,
yearning to hold you
and for you to love me too --

to the point that i forgot
how much it bled
to see you ooze with love
dripping from your saccharine lips
that sugar-coated the names of others
overlooking, while i was in sight
as i silently pleaded,
i do not want you to see me through the eyes of others
i want to be seen by you

and as i poured my heart
into letters,
messages,
stories,
sentiments,
and secret poetry,
adorned with your favorite chocolates
over the years,

the reality that pained me so much
was not that you did not love me
or that you never said so back
yet only to those i felt i lost to you,

it is that you could not bring yourself
to genuinely apologize or feel sorrow
for any excuses or explanations you had
in forgetting me, even after you said
you would be with me and embrace me,
only for me to see, time and time again,
how you valued others
in the tens and thousands of words
i have seen with my own eyes,
in a space you welcomed me in,
as i am no more than a thought that left your heart and head,
for that these are the words you neglected to return to me.

and i realized
i am loved;
and i am forgotten.