This poem explores the emotional paralysis of seeing a loved one in pain but being unable to intervene. The speaker observes the person “fading away,” their eyes dull, their smile a fragile, “stitched-together thing”. They see the hidden evidence of self-harm, how wrists hide “beneath cotton and fear”.
Knowing that “tired words” like “You’re strong” are useless, the speaker makes a conscious choice to simply stay. The solution isn’t to fix or heal, but to sit in the quiet, making silence their language. The poem ends with a vow to remember the other person’s light, even if it has dimmed.
- Instead, I’ll sit with you in the silence,
- let the quiet be our language.
- I won’t reach for the tears
- that gather on your face
- like rain begging to be noticed.