ignore

They spoke in flashing indicators

Red lights dressed as advice

Every warning came with fine print

Every pause got overridden by time

I learned how to nod without hearing

Learned how to keep moving ahead

If it didn't knock me flat on the pavement

I treated it like something someone else said

Constant tone

I trained myself to call it normal

I saw it coming

I just didn't stop

I heard the signal

And let it drop

If silence keeps the system running

Then silence is what I choose

You call it negligence

I call it nothing left to lose

They say the body keeps a record

Mine learned how to redact

Whole chapters crossed out quietly

So the rest could still react

Every ache became familiar

Every flare just part of the day

If it didn't end me immediately

It got filed under "delay"

Static answers

Muted signs

I survived by minimizing

I saw it coming

I just didn't stop

I heard the signal

And let it drop

If silence keeps the system running

Then silence is what I choose

You call it negligence

I call it nothing left to lose

Left to lose

It wasn't denial

It was efficiency

I didn't think I was invincible

I just didn't think I mattered

I saw it coming

And kept my pace

I learned to live

With the warning erased

If listening costs more than it saves

I'll pay in parts I never miss

I didn't survive by paying attention

I survived by dismissing this