Still Breathing, Barely Reaching

Somewhere between

What we were

and what we’ll never be,

I’m standing still,

Watching you disappear

One silent day at a time.

You’re not gone,

But you’re drowning in yourself.

In the stress,

In the grind,

In the ache you don’t talk about.

You’ve built walls from your worry,

and i can’t find the door anymore.

You’re buried in work,

Lost in your own war,

and I keep knocking

On the edges of your silence

Like love might echo back.

But you push away.

Not out of hate.

Just out of hurt.

and I get it

God, I do.

But damn, it still breaks me.

This isn’t a breakup,

but it’s got all the grief.

I’m mourning a love

That’s still breathing

but won’t look me in the eye.

And now I’m left holding

The version of you

Who used to show up,

Trying to let go

Without hating the distance.

Without blaming the silence.

Without losing myself

To the hope

That one day you’ll reach back.