tacit pendant
You never said it,
Not in words
I could hold.
But your eyes –
They spoke in a dialect
My heart already knew.
Late at night,
I’d replay your smallest gestures
As if they were confessions.
The way you laughed,
Or paused
Before pressing send –
I let myself believe
That meant something.
I didn’t ask
Because I didn’t want to know.
To confirm it wasn’t real
Would’ve broken something
I’d rather keep wounded
Than gone.
I offered you closeness
In quiet ways –
Through thoughtfulness,
Through the way I waited
Without asking you to hurry.
But even the softest love
Needs air to live.
And you never let it breathe.
Not truly.
So now I speak to silence,
And it answers kindly.
Not with comfort,
But with clarity.
You didn’t mean to mislead.
You just didn’t stop me
When I led myself.
And I suppose,
That’s what hurts the most.
Not that you left –
But that you let me stay
Long after you had gone.
rose wraith
spiral nimbus
chilly knot