The Loneliness No One Sees
I hope you heal from the loneliness people cannot see because you still know how to function. Because the hardest loneliness is not always an empty room. Sometimes it is being surrounded by people who do not really know where you are inside yourself. People see you reply. They see you laugh. They see you show up. They see you post. They see you answer messages. They see you keep moving. So they assume you are fine. They do not see the silence after the conversation ends. They do not see how long you stare at your phone. They do not see the part of you that wants someone to ask again, but differently. They do not see how tired you are of being reachable but not really reached. You are not lonely because nobody knows your name. You are lonely because too few people know your weight. The things you carry. The things you avoid saying. The truth behind your "I am okay." The version of you that exists after everyone leaves. I hope you heal from having to collapse before people believe you needed someone. I hope one day you are known without performing pain. I hope someone sits beside your silence and does not rush to leave it.
Every room where you were present but still unseen.
The part of you waiting to be known without performing pain.
The first time someone stays long enough to notice the silence.
You were not hard to love. You were hard to see from the surface.