We stand side by side
On ground that feels complete
Almost close enough to touch
But somehow, we never quite meet

You think this is what closeness feels like
Easy, quiet, undisturbed
Like nothing is broken
Because nothing is ever heard

But you don’t see the valley between us
How it opened slowly over time
A journey of a thousand miles
Hidden in the space between your heart and mine

I tried, in the beginning
More than I knew how to say
I crossed pieces of that distance alone
Hoping you would meet me along the way

I waited for you to notice
To turn, to step, to try
But you stood where it was comfortable
While I kept walking, wondering why

And somewhere along that journey
I grew tired of calling your name
Tired of hoping you would hear me
Tired of carrying the weight of us the same

So I stopped

Not all at once
But quietly, the way distance grows
I learned how to stand beside you
Without expecting to be close

Now you see peace where I feel absence
You see fine where I have gone still
You do not hear the silence in me
Because it never felt real

Could you cross the distance between us
Perhaps
If you ever felt it there

I will not walk the road between us
But I have not turned away
I am somewhere along the distance now
Waiting, without asking you to stay