If You Leave

I

If you leave,
don’t say
“it wasn’t meant to be.”
Say you were scared
of something
that felt too real.

II

Don’t call it timing.
Don’t blame the distance.
Don’t hide behind
“maybe someday.”
Some days
don’t come back.

III

I didn’t love you
casually.
I loved you
like it mattered.
Like you mattered.
Like I was all in.

IV

You can survive
without love.
People do it
all the time.
But surviving
isn’t the same
as living.

V

We almost became
everything.
That’s the dangerous part.
Almost
hurts more
than never.

VI

I wasn’t asking
for perfect.
I was asking
for present.
For effort.
For stay.

VII

You don’t lose people
all at once.
You lose them
in hesitations.
In silence.
In not choosing.

VIII

And if you walk away,
walk honestly.
Don’t shrink
what we were
just so leaving
feels easier.

IX

Because I will remember
how your hand fit in mine.
How your voice
softened my storms.
How you said
“we’ll see.”

X

And maybe
we won’t.
Maybe this is it.
Maybe this is
the story
we almost told.

XI

But don’t pretend
it was nothing.
Don’t pretend
I was easy to forget.
Love like that
leaves marks.

XII

If you leave,
leave brave.
Leave knowing
I would have stayed.
And that
is the difference
between us.