Anthony Hanible

Is This Real

 The world around me feels staged

A paper thin set built from borrowed Feelings

Every smile a prop

Every touch a rehearsed gesture

Meant to look like tenderness

From far away

I move through it anyway

A ghost wearing a heartbeat

Collecting counterfeits

Plastic promises

Hollow warmth

Kisses that taste like someone

Trying to remember what love

Is supposed to feel like

Even the sky feels artificial

A painted dome

Cracking at the edges

Where the truth leaks through

Like light

I keep searching

Not for perfection

Not for magic

Just for something that doesn’t dissolve

When I hold it too tightly

Some nights

I swear I can feel real love

Circling me like a shy animal

Close enough to warm the air

Too wild to step into my hands

And I wonder

How many more false suns

Will I stand beneath

How many almost loves

Will I bury in my chest

Before the real one arrives

And recognizes me

Before I run out of time

The world leans in

Soft but unflinching

And whispers through the cracks

If you’re asking

Then yes

You’re still alive enough

To find the love

That won’t disappear

When you touch it