Hope Against the Ending

I think a part of me always knew,
the way you hesitate before saying my name,
the way your eyes sometimes looked past me
like you were already searching for another life.

Still, I built a home out of your maybes,
hung my hopes on every soft word you gave me,
pretending love meant we were safe
from endings like this.

But somewhere beneath all that hope
was a quiet truth my heart carried alone,
that when the moment finally came,
your hands wouldn’t reach for mine.

And maybe that’s the cruelest part:
I didn’t lose you all at once tonight.
Some small part of me
has been losing you
for a very long time.