8/16/25 pt. 2

i became a shape that you could hold.

folded parts of myself in corners just right.

smoothed the edges, even dimmed the light.

and started to wear my silence like it was a fourth layer of skin.

you acted like love meant sacrifice

and despite the lie, my bright eyes and my bright mind somehow believed it.

i carved out love and laughter just to make room

for the echoes of your fears as if they were a prize.

when really i was the mirror that you needed,

not just to see the truth,

but to see yourself both untouched and unchallenged.

even though you rebuked.

every single time you noticed my soul dancing just "a bit too freely,"

you turned the music down, even shut it off,

because you perceived my light to be too much, despite it being soft.

so i became lesser than just to try and ward you off.

i buried that girl who spoke too loud,

who had the knowledge and was willing to walk away from the crowd.

who had dreamed in colors that you wouldn't even attempt to name,

because burying your reflection was your comfort, as well as when i was blamed.

and when the canine in my soul tried to leave and pull,

you became the leash that made my blood pool.

you wept with your hands clenched tightly, forming it into guilt,

spiraling the survivalist in me, making the tower tilt.

and now i wonder since i vanished,

did you really mourn me?

or only the silence that you made me form around you?