I had to give you up.

Even though you were never really mine to begin with.

Not in the way I wanted.

Not in the way I needed.

You liked me—

but I loved you.

With the kind of love that forgives too much,

waits too long,

hurts too quietly.

I bent my standards for you.

Lowered the bar,

just to watch you still fall short.

And even then,

I made excuses with shaking hands

and tired eyes.

I didn’t wan...

I used to whisper my worth in the quiet, soft like a secret I wasn't sure I deserved.

You grew used to my silence-took my patience as permanence.

And maybe that's on me... for loving louder than I was loved, for showing up

when you were just there.

You dangled "almost" like it was a promise, gave me just enough to keep my hope breathing, but not enough to ever feel held.

I bent,

I stayed,

I hop...

You were miles away, but still so near,

In every text, in every call I’d hear.

We weren’t official, but damn it felt so real.

I let myself believe what you’d never feel.

You stayed up late, said all the RIGHT things,

Called me “baby”, talked about dreams.

I built a future from your late-night tone,

While you were just bored, or just alone.

I never touched you, never held your hand,

But some...

The first time I worked on a car,

my hands trembled- but my heart was a star .

Steel and chrome, grease on my skin,

A whole new world I was stepping in.

The hood rose like a stage light beam,

And I stood there chasing a brand new dream.

Sanding and masking, fixing the bend-

It wasn’t just metal, it was my new friend.

Eager eyes beneath a welding mask,

Each tool a teacher, each bolt a task.

I...