When your gaze found mine, the whole world swayed, As if the earth had missed a hidden beat; The sunlight suddenly grew unafraid, Then melted like warm gold around my feet. I tried to look away, but something stayed, A trembling little universe in you; My eyes became two doors I could not close, And every secret seemed to wander through. I felt my cheeks turn roses in the rain, A sudden fire underneath my skin; The stars began to whisper my sweet shame, While little suns kept blooming from within. Your eyes were not just eyes, they were a place, A strange blue room where gravity was gone; I wandered through the silence of your gaze And somehow lost the person I was on. My heartbeat stumbled, then forgot its name, It ran barefoot through corridors of light; I blushed as though the moon had called me beautiful, Then hid my face from heaven's watching sight. The trees leaned closer, jealous of the view, The flowers opened wider just to see; Even the wind became unusually shy, As thoug...
They gave hatred a name,
A nickname sharp as stone,
Spoken in laughter,
As if I was never born whole.
They forgot I had a real name,
One whispered once with care,
Now buried under jokes and smirks,
Lost in the open air.
Laughter rose like a cruel fire,
Hatred dressed as play,
Every word is a quiet push
Pulling my fragile soul away.
Negativity held me by the ankles,
Dragged me through each day,
While dreams grew tired of standing
And hope learned how to sway.
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide,
Just rooms full of broken ties,
Family wounds left open wide,
Conflicts that never learned to die.
I cried in silence,
Tears with no cloth to claim,
No shoulder, no mercy,
Only the echo of shame.
What a shame, this world can be—
To strip a soul of dignity,
To laugh while someone disappears
Slowly, painfully, silently.
Yet still I breathe beneath the weight,
Still carry the truth they tried to erase:
I was never the name they used—
I was a human,
I had a face.
© 2025 Gloria Penelope
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