You wouldn’t ever know what it’s like,
Sitting in silence,
While they talk about fathers—
The ones who stay,
The ones who love without question.

They speak of sacrifices,
Of arms that shield and words that soothe,
Of being treated like princesses,
Given the world without needing to ask.

But me?
I can only imagine.
I’ve learned to fill the silence with smiles,
To nod along, as if I know the feeling.
But deep down,
I carry the weight of your absence.

How do you grieve for something
You’ve never truly had?
How do you explain the hollow space
Where love should have been?

You wouldn’t ever know what it’s like—
To grow up wishing for a hero,
And realizing,
You had to become your own.