there were so many times 
I held my words back
thinking maybe
they would matter to you
thinking you’d hear them and understand
but you never did
now all I have
are the words I never said 
the things I thought
might change your mind
but you never cared enough to listen
I wish I had said more
not to win your attention 
but to free myself from the silence 
maybe then
I would have realized sooner 
that it wasn’t my words you needed
it was your own willingness to listen

in the house of secrets
silence was its own language
the walls whispered stories 
only shadows understood 
and every locked door
guarded a piece of someone 
you’d never fully know
we grew up there
speaking in half-truths 
and learning to walk lightly
love was there
though it wore a mask
soft enough to hold you 
but always just out of reach
by the time we left
we carried the secrets with us
stitched into our skin like old scars 
we never spoke of them 
but in every glance
we knew