I needed to say this out loud, because silence kept protecting the wrong person. It takes someone deeply disconnected from themselves to lie without flinching, to manipulate love into a weapon, to spend years tearing someone down while watching them try harder. For three years, I gave everything I had—emotionally, mentally, spiritually, believing effort could fix what was never meant to be healthy. I kept showing up, even when I was shrinking. I kept forgiving, even when it cost me pieces of myself. I lost myself.

This poem is a window into my inner world, a place I don’t always show to others. It’s about the struggle of wanting to be happy and free while feeling trapped by pain that no one else can see. The lines explore the contrast between the smile I wear for the world and the darkness I carry inside. Writing this was my way of facing those feelings honestly, without pretending they don’t exist. While it’s heavy and raw, there’s a thread of hope woven through it—a quiet belief that one day, I’ll find my way out of the storm. I hope it resonates with anyone who has ever felt unseen, misunderstood, or quietly hurting, and reminds them that even in dark moments, there’s a chance for light.

This poem is about the invisible burdens we carry when someone we trusted hurts us deeply. It’s about the way pain lingers long after words are said, how it settles behind your ribs and bends your hope without anyone noticing. I wrote this because I know what it feels like to move through life carrying the weight of someone else’s neglect, smiling on cue while grief quietly taps at your throat. It’s a reminder that some scars aren’t on the skin, they live in the silence, in the empty spaces left behind, and sometimes the hardest part is surviving them without being seen.

This poem was written for anyone who spent years shrinking themselves to keep love alive. For the ones who stayed quiet, stayed loyal, and stayed hopeful even when their needs went unanswered. It speaks to the kind of pain that doesn’t leave visible marks, the slow erosion that happens when you confuse endurance with devotion and neglect with love. This piece isn’t about bitterness or blame, it’s about naming what it feels like to disappear while trying to be enough for someone who never truly saw you. It’s for those who didn’t leave because they stopped caring, but because caring began to cost them their sense of self. If you’ve ever loved so deeply that you lost your voice in the process, this poem is for you.