They slip in when I’m not paying attention—
A laugh I don’t recognize,
A dream that feels too soft,
Too fragile for this skin I wear now.
She belonged to another time,
A girl with open hands
And a heart wide enough to hold the whole world,
Believing it wouldn’t crush her.
But it did.
It shattered her in ways
She couldn’t put back together,
So I took her place.
I built walls she couldn’t,
Spoke words she wouldn’t,
And learned to walk through fire
Without flinching.
She was too soft for this life,
Too trusting,
Too much like sunlight in a place
That only knows shadows.
She doesn’t belong here,
And I’ve kept her hidden
Because I knew the world would eat her alive.
Still, she lingers—
In the sound of wind through trees,
In the way rain feels against my skin.
She’s not gone, not really,
Just buried somewhere deep,
Waiting for the day
I’ll tell her it’s safe to come back.