🕯️ Wearing Silence Like Armor

you still sit there, don’t you

you still sit there, don’t you

as if the world owes you forgiveness

as if the air doesn't choke on your breath

your chair creaks with the weight of

all the years you never lived

you collect silence like medals

pin them to your chest and wait

for someone to applaud

no one is clapping

you wear regret like perfume

cheap

but strong

lingering long after you leave

I passed you yesterday

in the hall of memory

you looked younger there

less haunted

but still hollow

your eyes, two stubborn wells

dry

but always expecting rain

I asked you once if you ever felt

anything

and you smiled

like someone who forgot

what feelings were

the room reeks of old decisions

your hands still tremble

even when there's nothing left to spill

the mirror has stopped trying

it doesn't lie for you anymore

you’re not tragic

you’re just tired

and cruel in quiet ways

you built a life out of avoidance

and decorated it with excuses

you once told me

love was a loud thing

but I only remember

your silence

you still sit there, don’t you

in that same damn chair

with your spine bent like truth

trying to fold itself

into something prettier