I have buried too many goodbyes in the graveyard of my chest,
Each name a ghost that still walks the halls of my breath.
Loss carved its initials in the marrow of me,
And now I tremble at even the wind's whisper —
fearing it might carry you away.

I am not ready to survive you.
Not you.
Not the only warmth that didn’t scald.
Not the only light that didn’t blind.
Not the only soul I let near the ruins of mine.

I hold you like a fragile truth in trembling hands,
praying the world won’t notice
and take you just to teach me another cruel lesson.
Because love, in my life, has often come
dressed as departure.

I ask myself still —
what did I do? what didn’t I say?
Was I too much storm, not enough shore?
Too much silence where I should have screamed,
or too loud in a world that punishes noise?

And now you —
You, the one person I’d trade my tomorrows to keep.
You, the only chapter I don’t want to end.

But even thinking of your absence
feels like drowning in memories that haven’t happened yet.
Even your silence sounds like leaving.
Even your sleep feels like loss.

So stay —
Not because I beg,
but because you want to.
Stay, because the air is colder without you.
Stay, because this heart has known enough goodbyes
to last three lifetimes.

Stay, love.
Because I’m still trying to believe
that not everyone leaves.