The Echoed Game

We played as kids, beneath the sun, My heart, a race it thought it won. I built a world of hopes so true, Believing I was loved by you. But every smile, a hidden thread, A puppet's dance, by cunning led. You spun a web of gentle lies, Reflected in my trusting eyes. My young heart offered all its store, For feelings you'd pretend, then ignore. A phantom touch, a fleeting gaze, Lost in a cruel and childish maze. The laughter shared, a hollow sound, As true intentions spun around. A bitter truth, now stark and plain, My love, a trick, a whispered game. No passion met, no solace found, Just broken pieces on the ground. A barren field, where nothing grew, My love unreturned, betrayed by you.