Slipping

I watch as they pull away,
Slowly at first, like the tide receding from the shore,
And I can’t stop it, can’t reverse the pull
Of the hurt I didn’t mean to cause.
I want to scream, to apologize,
But words feel empty now, and my actions, louder than any promise I could make
Have already written their story.
I’ve tried to change.
To erase the parts of me that break them.
But it feels like I’m chasing shadows—
The more I reach, the further they slip
Until the whole ground is darkness, and I am afraid I may trip.
Maybe it’s just who I was born to be, a puzzle piece that doesn’t fit,
Forcing myself into spaces I never truly belonged.
I replay every moment,
Every silence that grew too long,
Every glance that turned away.
And I wonder if they ever truly saw me,
Or if I was just a reflection of who they hoped I would become.
And now I carry their absence like a wound that refuses to close,
Like a quiet ache stitched into my days.
I walk through memories like empty halls,
Each one echoing with what I should have.
What I should have said, what I should have done,
Before the doors began to close.
But regret is a ghost with no face
Haunting places I thought were safe,
Until demons surround me.
Yet still, part of me waits for a return that may never come.
For forgiveness that may never be mine.