Conversations We Shouldn't Have Written Down

We kept the messages

Like pressed leaves

Each word brittle

But still shaped like what we meant to mean

There's no grace in these memories

Just timestamps of decline

One long thread

Of what we didn't say in time

Did we need proof?

Or were we just afraid to let go

Of even the wreckage?

Conversations we shouldn't have written down

Now we read them like scripture

And flinch at the sound

Of who we were

Or thought we were

Before we drowned

I found your letter folded

In the back of a book I never read

Half a sentence trailed off

Like it couldn't carry what was left

I never wrote back

Just stared through the folds

Wishing your silence

Had been more bold

Did we need proof?

Or were we just afraid to let go

Of even the wreckage?

Conversations we shouldn't have written down

Now we read them like scripture

And flinch at the sound

Of who we were

Or thought we were

Before we drowned"If you'd asked. I would've stayed"

Conversations we shouldn't have written down

We keep revising them in our heads

But the ink won't drown

Conversations we shouldn't have written down

Still live in the glow

Of a screen you don't check now

I know it's over

But I still scroll

Just to hurt myself slow