I heard you
in the quiet breaking.
Your name
ran under my skin.
But I stayed where shadows don’t speak,
safe in the blur of nothing said.

I meant to go.
I meant to move.
But comfort clung
like cold to bone.
And I let you stand
in the hush I made,
not knowing
what it cost.

I tasted guilt
in the back of my throat,
dry as dust on a still road.
I dreamed of saying something real.
But morning
always comes too fast.

Now I trace
the edge of your absence.
Wish I had burned
a little brighter,
been the fire
you looked for
when the light went out.