If We Had Been Brave
Moving on is easier
when no one knows
how deep it really went.
They didn’t see
how your name lived behind my eyes
even when I said someone else’s.
We buried it, didn’t we?
Under deadlines and should-haves,
under the weight of being
“good” instead of honest.
We told ourselves it wasn’t the right time —
but time never mattered when it was you.
Why did we do that to ourselves?
Call it logic?
Call it timing?
It was fear, wasn’t it?
Fear of how much we’d lose,
not realizing we were losing each other anyway.
Do you ever imagine it still?
Our life
if we had said yes
instead of maybe.
If we had jumped
instead of looked back.
Would we be in each other’s arms —
or at each other’s throats?
I don’t even care.
I would’ve taken the storms,
every single one,
if it meant I got to call you home.
-Violet Hernandez
