streetlights feel like ghosts to me now-

hollow-eyed, humming in the stillness,

watching over roads that forget,

the footsteps they used to know.

they remind me of waiting too long,

of sitting on cold curbs with my hands in my pockets,

hoping someone would come back,

even though i knew they wouldn’t.

i think of long nights under quiet skies,

while the rest of the world was asleep

but my thoughts kept pacing,

circling old conversations,

wishing i’d have said more, or less,

or nothing at all.

streetlights lit the path i took away from people

who once felt like home,

and the way back when home

didn’t feel like anything anymore.

they’ve seen the versions of me

i never speak of-

the ones who waited at corners

pretending not to cry,

watching cars pass by like they might stop.

and still, they stand.

unmoving. unknowing.

burning through every silence.

like they know

what it’s like

to be left on.