Things You Can’t Say Out Loud

Things You Can’t Say Out Loud

I’m tired of pretending I’m fine,

Of painting smiles over cracks inside.

The fears that twist beneath my skin,

I bury them where no one can begin.

I’m scared you won’t stay if I’m too real,

So I wrap my words in a quiet seal.

The weight of doubt I hide each day,

In silence, it grows and won’t go away.

Sometimes I wish you’d see the cracks,

The moments I falter, the moments I lack.

But telling you feels like too much to ask—

So I wear my mask behind the mask.

There are dreams I bury deep,

Fears I fold in the dark to keep.

The “what ifs” that haunt my nights,

And the truths too fragile for the light.

So here I stand, quiet and still,

Hiding the parts you’ll never fill.

But know this secret, faint and proud:

I’m speaking now what’s never said out loud.