Have you ever looked into the eyes that gave you breath, And felt the chilling silence of an empty, barren nest? Have you ever felt the cold of waters pulling you below, Or wondered why the hands meant to hold you let you go? Have you ever stared at plates where kindness should have been, And realized the hunger was a shadow locked within? Have you ever been delivered to a safer, quieter shore, By guardians who closed the wind but couldn't open up the door? They kept the storm from crashing, gave me shelter, kept me fed, But "mother" and a "father" are just words inside a head. It takes a special magic to be a mom, to be a dad, To fill the quiet spaces that a child should have had. So I grew up with a void, a heavy, silent space, An existential emptiness no structure could replace. But the dark did not consume me, and the void began to bend, When I turned twelve or thirteen and I found a kindred friend. I guarded every secret, but he cracked the heavy stone, We shared a different, matching ache—and suddenly, no home. A brotherhood so sacred that it echoes to this day, Though time has made us older now and pulled our steps away. He’s off to find his manhood, and I respect the path he took, Even when I miss the pages of the chapter in our book. I learned to mend the fractures on my own as time went by, Stepping over broken glass beneath a changing sky. I chased a few illusions, misread the signs and stars, Left wondering if anyone could love me with my scars. Then she arrived. A melody on my frequency, a sudden, perfect grace, Whose flaws are just like poetry I never want to erase. Two weeks ago I told her how my heart began to beat, She smiled and said, "Let’s take our time, where past and future meet." So now we build the bridge, one late-night word at a time, Watching hours fade away as midnight bells start to chime. Our friends slip out to slumber, leaving just our voices clear, Talking past the 1 AM mark, washing out the fear. I started in the shadows, but I'm standing in the light, Mending up my own voids in the quiet of the night.
Wrote by me.
