They Forgot Me While I Was Still Breathing

They say
death comes last.
But no one told me
how it feels
to be erased
while you're still alive.

I wasn’t gone.
I was right there
in the crowd,
at the table,
inside the photo
they never looked at again.

My name
used to echo
in someone’s voice.
Now it’s dust
on tongues
too tired
to remember.

I said “hello.”
They heard air.
I said “I’m hurting.”
They heard noise.
I said nothing
they liked that better.

I sat
in rooms
where my shadow
was louder
than I was.

I laughed once
just to prove
I still existed.
No one noticed
but the silence.

I am not dead.
But I’ve seen
what death looks like
with open eyes
and a heartbeat.

It looks like
everyone walking
right through you.
It feels like
being remembered
by no one.

But here’s the truth
Even ghosts
find ways
to haunt.

Even forgotten souls
write poems
loud enough
to wake
a world
that stopped listening.