THE THINGS I NEVER SAID OUT LOUD
Some feelings are difficult to explain, so we carry them quietly. A short poem about missed people, unspoken apologies, complicated emotions and the things we wish we’d found the courage to say.
A poem about the things we carry quietly.
I have smiled through conversations I wanted to leave,
said “it’s fine” when it wasn’t, and called it maturity when really,
I was just tired of explaining.
I have missed people I knew I shouldn’t return to.
Made homes out of temporary people,
then questioned the architecture when they left.
I have been jealous, not because I wanted their lives,
but because sometimes watching someone become what they prayed for makes you wonder whether heaven has misplaced your address.
I have prayed for everybody, remembered every name, and forgotten that I am allowed to ask for something, too.
I have wanted to be understood without explaining myself.
Loved people I no longer knew how to keep.
And sometimes, I haven’t wanted a lesson. Just an apology.
Just somewhere to put everything I never said.
Perhaps growing up isn’t learning to feel less.
Perhaps it’s learning that not every feeling needs to be hidden.
Not everything we carry was meant to be carried in silence.
