Not Quite The Moon~

They said, “People will love you if you’re beautiful.” But they never did— even when my smile was stitched from starlight, and I walked like I carried the dusk in my veins. Then they said, “Study hard. Be good. That’s what girls like you should do.” So I did— folded myself into quiet shapes, wore obedience like a pressed white dress. Still, I wasn’t soft enough to be loved, not even neat enough to make the “good girls” list. Then they promised, “If you’re gentle, if you stay small, someone will stay.” So I whispered instead of roaring. I loved like lanterns in fog. And I waited— for someone to see me beyond the stillness. But no one did. Not even once. Even when I poured my heart like tea into every cupped hand that asked. Even when I cracked open all my silence— They left. And like that seashore scene in a dream I half-remember, the only thing that waited for me was the melancholic, beautiful moon— well... not quite the moon. Just something that looked like it, and didn’t leave.