I’m sorry it’s time
The clock has been whispering
For weeks
But I kept turning it face down
Pretending silence
Meant mercy
I’m sorry it’s time
And the air feels thinner
Around the truth
Even the light knows
It falls differently now
Careful not to touch
What’s already ending
I’m sorry I held on
Long after the rope
Burned my hands
I thought if I stayed still enough
The moment would pass me by
Like weather
But it didn’t
It waited
I’m sorry it’s time
And all the words I practiced
Sound smaller
Than the ache they carry
There’s no elegant way
To close a door
That once opened so wide
I’m sorry it’s time
Not because I doubt it
But because I know
What leaving costs
The quiet rearranging
Of a life
The soft collapse
Of a hope
I’m sorry it’s time
And I’m walking forward anyway
Hands empty
Heart steady
Trying to believe
That endings
Are just another way
To begin