There is a place inside you No map has ever traced, a quiet room behind the ribs where light forgets to stay. No one sees it when you smile, No one hears it when you speak. It moves beneath your laughter like a river running deep. It is yours alone to carry, not carved for other hands, a language made of silence Only your soul understands. Some mornings it is heavier, a stone you cannot name, And still you rise and wear your life as if it were the same. But pain, it does not leave you when ignored or pushed away, it waits within the folds of time, it learns you day by day. It is not your enemy, though it cuts without a sound; it is the truth you buried but still lives underground. And yes, there are nights it breaks you, when endurance feels too wide, when even breath feels borrowed And there is nowhere left to hide. Yet somehow you continue, not because you do not fall, but because within the breaking You still answer life’s call. You learn to walk beside it, not beneath it, not above...
You wrapped her in softness
like dusk wraps the sky,
quiet, warm, convincing.
Every word you spoke
fell gently, like petals
that never hinted
at the thorns beneath.
The romance you gave
flowed like silk velvet,
smooth across her skin,
each gesture measured,
each touch deliberate,
a masterpiece of illusion
painted in tenderness.
You knew exactly where to place your hands,
where to pause your voice,
where to let silence bloom
just enough
for her to fill it with hope.
And she did.
She drank from your kindness
as if it were true,
as if your gaze held something sacred,
as if every moment you offered
was built from something real,
not crafted, not calculated,
not rehearsed in the quiet corners
of your intent.
The romance you gave
was deep enough to drown in,
sweet enough to trust,
a careful weaving of warmth and wonder
that made her forget
How to question.
You made it feel like love.
As if your presence meant forever.
As if your promises had roots.
As if your hands
were not just passing through.
But beneath it all,
There was a stillness in you,
not peace,
but strategy.
She did not see the board.
She did not hear the quiet movement
of pieces shifting
behind your eyes.
To her,
you were not a player.
You were home.
And so she gave,
openly,
fearlessly,
placing her heart
where you could reach it
without resistance.
But to you,
she was in a position,
a step forward,
a move well made.
In a game she never agreed to play.
You held her like something precious
only long enough
to keep her still.
And when the moment came,
You moved,
not away from her,
but through her,
as if she had always been
meant to be sacrificed.
The romance you gave
did not shatter all at once.
It unraveled slowly,
thread by thread,
until the velvet turned to emptiness
in her hands.
And still she wondered,
Which part was real?
The warmth?
The laughter?
The way you said her name
Like it mattered?
Or was it all
just another move
on a board she never saw?
Because love,
real love,
does not calculate.
It does not disguise intention
as affection,
or disguise control
as care.
But you,
You mastered the illusion.
And she,
She believed it.
Until she finally saw
what she had always been:
not the queen,
not the partner,
not the love you claimed,
But the pawn
you moved
with gentle hands.
© 2026 Gloria Penelope
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