I kept mistaking your quiet, for depth.
Confusing your avoidance, for calm.
I told myself love was simply taking its time.
So I made myself smaller.
Trimmed my stories to make you comfortable.
Softened my edges so you would stay.
Folded my reality and feelings into silence.
If you were going to be happy,
I could not take up space.
If you were going to stay,
I could not fully exist.
I asked for coexistence,
And even that was too much.
You gave me everything you could.
And everything you could was small.
I came with oceans.
There is no villain here.
Only a truth I can’t outrun:
You do not have the hands to hold what I am.
So I unfold.
I let my voice be heard.
Not loud, just the softness I once needed.
My steady hand on my own chest.
I choose a love where I am allowed to be alive.
Not managed.
Not contained.
A love where I am free to exist.
Feb 21
Feb 21, 2026 at 9:07 PM UTC
I kept mistaking your quiet, for depth.
Confusing your avoidance, for calm.
I told myself love was simply taking its time.
So I made myself smaller.
Trimmed my stories to make you comfortable.
Softened my edges so you would stay.
Folded my reality and feelings into silence.
If you were going to be happy,
I could not take up space.
If you were going to stay,
I could not fully exist.
I asked for coexistence,
And even that was too much.
You gave me everything you could.
And everything you could was small.
I came with oceans.
There is no villain here.
Only a truth I can’t outrun:
You do not have the hands to hold what I am.
So I unfold.
I let my voice be heard.
Not loud, just the softness I once needed.
My steady hand on my own chest.
I choose a love where I am allowed to be alive.
Not managed.
Not contained.
A love where I am free to exist.
