I folded my hands and spoke too plainly,

Set my heart on the table, clean and bare.

You looked at it like an antique,

Something pretty, but not worth repair.

I told myself I was stronger now,

That the scars were just lines, not doors.

But the moment you leaned away from me,

I was bleeding through old sutures once more.

They say healing means opening up,

But nobody tells you what it costs.

I forgot how sharp it feels

To remember what I lost.

I opened my chest, I let you see,

Every quiet fear inside of me.

You didn’t strike, you didn’t fight,

You just didn’t choose me that night.

I wore my honesty like a promise,

Like proof I was finally brave.

But bravery does not stop the pain

When love decides not to stay.

You smiled like nothing was wrong,

Like this was just how things go.

But you don’t feel the echoes

When you wake old ghosts you don’t know.

I told myself I’d survive the truth,

But truth has teeth when it’s unreturned.

I should have known better

Than to touch what still burns.

I opened my chest, I let you see,

And you left it open inside of me.

Not with hate, not with spite,

Just silence sharp enough to slice.

I WILL NOT BLEED FOR YOU AGAIN

I WILL NOT CALL THIS LOVE

YOU TOOK WHAT I BURIED

AND CALLED IT NOTHING

I was healed until I wasn't.

They say love requires courage,

But I think it requires consent.

You don’t get to witness the wound

And pretend you meant no harm in it.

I am not afraid of loving,

I am afraid of the cost.

Of reopening doors

That took years to lock.

I didn’t ask you to save me.

I didn’t ask you to stay.

I only asked you not to touch

What I fought so hard to keep stitched in place.

I opened my chest, I let you see,

And learned what vulnerability means.

Not warmth, not grace,

But trusting someone not to twist the blade.

So if I hesitate now,

If I keep my hands away,

It’s not because I don’t feel love.

It’s because last time,

I felt it alone.