I was there,but barely breathing, Close enough to hear them speak. Every room was full of voices, Still nobody spoke to me. I learned where to stand unnoticed, How to smile and disappear. How to laugh a little later, So nobody saw the fear. At the table,I stayed silent, At the party,near the wall. People knew the way I looked, But they never knew me at all. After years of being unseen, I stopped asking to belong. Built a shelter out of silence, Then forgot the door was gone. I was invisible in the room, A shadow everybody passed through. But maybe I was hiding too, Afraid of what one word could do. I don't need the whole world listening, I don't need a crowded room. Maybe one voice saying "I see you" Is enough to let me through. I made accounts with different names, Changed my face behind the screen. Said the things I couldn't say As the person underneath. There I sounded brave and fearless, There I never looked away. Then the laptop closed at midnight, And I disappeared again. Maybe hiding kept me breathing, Maybe once it kept me safe. But the walls that stopped the hurting Started keeping life away. I was invisible in the room, A shadow everybody passed through. But I don't have to vanish now, I can choose who sees me too. I don't need the whole world listening, Just a place where I can start. One honest word,one open doorway, One safe person,one small spark. If you're listening from somewhere With your camera turned away, If you've typed a thousand answers Then deleted what you'd say, You don't have to tell them everything. You don't have to trust them all. Just let somebody meet the person You've been hiding from the world. You're not invisible in the room, You're not a shadow passing through. Take your space and use your voice, Let the real one sound like you. You don't need the whole world listening, You just need somewhere to begin. Open one door,answer one message, Let somebody else come in. I was there. I'm still here. And tonight, I'll let someone see me.
