GHOSTED

I've been through things I can't fully explain -
not because they're too dark,
but because words can't carry what silence holds better.
I used to love deeply.
I used to believe people meant what they said.
But when you've been broken enough times,
you start memorizing the pattern of pain -
who stays just long enough to leave,
who smiles while they're walking away.
Maybe I've healed wrong.
Maybe I've just gotten used to the ache.
But I'm still here - somewhere inside these walls I built.
I didn't become cold out of choice.
I became cold out of survival.