Still

The sun sets on this day,

not gently —

but like a wound closing too late.

A single star flickers far above,

too far to reach,

too cold to warm me.

You’ll wake to another morning,

One without me.

Maybe it will be lighter.

Maybe it won’t matter.

I never figured out,

how to say it right.

Never found the words,

that matched the way,

my chest ached.

Whatever it was

I kept trying to hold it together,

even when my fingers bled.

And in the end,

I was just a passing shadow in your life.

Something to be stepped over,

forgotten before the next step.