(this is not a beginning. just the place where names go when no one speaks them.)


i unlearn hiding.
not corrected. just seen.
not yours. already waiting.
a shadow returns
and the breath stays behind.

i do not open
but the door forgets to close.
not a woman.
not a man.
not a shape
you can keep.

the room moved.
my hands did not.
your voice arrived
like a wound with memory.

not stillness
but the collapse
of wanting something
you never asked.

i do not flee.
i remain.
not to be held
but to be
heard.

⋯

this was never control.
it was listening.
it was silence
before it had a name.