Don’t underestimate my silence.
My thoughts are loud,
even when I am not.
Don’t underestimate my silence.
I am not mute,
and I have never been without a voice.
I simply learnt that not every truth
needs to be shouted to be heard.
Don’t underestimate my silence.
I have walked this road
many, many times.
I know its turns,
its cracks,
the places where the ground gives way.
Don’t underestimate my silence.
I walked beside you.
Step for step.
Shoulder to shoulder.
Until somewhere along the way,
you stopped walking with us
and started racing ahead.
Don’t underestimate my silence.
I don’t believe in karma,
or signs from the universe,
or some invisible hand
keeping score.
I believe in choices.
And consequences.
And the quiet moment
when someone finally sees you
for who you have chosen to be.
Don’t underestimate my silence.
My hand stayed there
long after yours had let go.
I held on
through betrayal,
through greed dressed up as ambition,
through pride that mattered more
than the people standing beside you.
I held on
because friendship meant something to me.
I held on
until it didn’t.
Don’t underestimate my silence.
I noticed.
I noticed the smiles disappearing.
I noticed the laughter becoming careful.
I noticed how we stopped walking
at your pace.
And the strangest part?
You never noticed.
You never turned around
to see where we were.
Never looked back
to ask why we had stopped.
Never wondered
what the hold-up was.
You were too busy winning the race.
But you forgot something about races
sometimes the greatest loss
isn’t crossing the finish line alone.
Sometimes
you win the race
and lose everyone
who would have cheered for you.
You were so determined
to get ahead
that you didn’t notice
who you were leaving behind.
You didn’t notice us.
You didn’t notice me.
And perhaps that is what hurt the most.
Not that you chose yourself.
But that you chose yourself
again and again
even when the price
was someone else’s heart.
You knew what would hurt.
You knew what would benefit you.
And somehow,
your benefit kept winning.
You called it circumstance.
You called it necessity.
You called it whatever made it easier
to sleep at night.
But friendship is not
taking the easier road
when you know your friend
will be the one left bleeding
at the side of it.
Don’t underestimate my silence.
I saw the manipulation.
I saw the calculations.
I saw the moments
where kindness became convenient
and friendship became a currency.
And still,
I said nothing.
Not because I didn’t know.
Because I knew too much.
Don’t underestimate my silence.
I was giving you time.
Time to notice.
Time to turn around.
Time to see the people
who were no longer beside you.
You never did.
So don’t mistake my silence
for permission.
Don’t mistake my quiet
for ignorance.
Don’t mistake my staying
for forever.
There comes a point
when silence stops being
something you endure
and becomes something
you choose.
And this time,
I choose it
for me.
No revenge.
No karma.
No grand ending.
Just absence.
Just the quiet space
where my friendship used to be.
