fleeting shadows of a missing memory

there’s a hollow ache in my chest, a longing i can’t name. my heart trembles, searching for something it can’t remember. the night unfolds like a soft, endless canvas, and i stay awake, cradled in its stillness. the birds begin their songs long before dawn, their notes rising in the quiet air, like fragments of a forgotten melody. outside, the cars pass by with a gentle hum, their headlights casting fleeting shadows across my room. there’s a beauty in this hour, this pause between sleep and morning, where everything feels suspended, yet i feel a deep ache in my chest, as if something is slipping away just beyond my reach. i don’t know what it is, this thing i miss, but the emptiness lingers, filling the spaces between each passing car, each bird’s song. it’s a longing I can’t name, a memory i can’t place, yet somehow it feels as if the night is holding me, wrapping its quiet around my heart, letting me exist in this delicate ache. and in this strange, beautiful moment, i realize that the missing piece is not meant to be found. perhaps the beauty lies in the not knowing.