You laugh like silver bells, (Or is it a siren's call?) You hold the door with grace, (Or push them down the hall?) They call you cruel, a storm of spite— But I see sunlight. You remember little things, ask about my day, make me feel like I matter. (Do they not matter? Do they not exist?)
They
We whisper, we warn— (You never listen.) We've seen the mask slip, (You never glisten.) A shadow moves beneath your praise, But you still chase. We’ve watched you excuse, rewrite, pretend you didn’t see. What will it take? (Does it have to happen to you?)
You
I am the sum of all they see, (Yet less than half of what I seem.) I am the echo, sharp and sweet, (A kindness dressed in quiet teeth.) Do I love, or do I take? It’s not my choice— (It’s yours to make.) And you have made it. Again and again. So why ask what I am, when you've already answered?
Conflict
They carve your name into curses You wear their spite like silk I stand at the altar of your shadow, offering silence, wondering if I am blessing a saint or kneeling before a sinner.