The Space Between Us

There’s a distance now,

one I can’t measure in miles

but in the way your voice has changed,

in the way you hesitate before answering,

in the way I feel like I’m asking too much

just by being here.

I used to feel welcome,

now I feel like an obligation.

You laugh, but it’s hollow,

like a song you no longer like

but still hum out of habit.

You made a joke,

a careless, cutting thing,

wrapped in laughter that didn’t quite fit.

I laughed too,

because that’s what we do,

but something in me sank,

something in me knew.

Was I really a mistake?

A choice you wish you could undo

before you say "I do"?

Or have I just become something easy to ignore,

a presence you tolerate,

instead of a friend you happily choose?

I don’t know what shifted,

or why summer feels so far away now.

I only know I would relive every moment,

every late night, every shared laughter,

just to feel like I mattered to you again.

But maybe I don’t.

Maybe that’s the answer.

And maybe I’m the only one

who’s afraid to say it out loud.

But if you’d just say it—

if you’d just tell me the truth—

I’d stop reaching.

I’d stop hoping.

I’d let you go,

if that's what you really want.

~RMC