The Echo After Goodbye

I love.

She said it as if it was our final goodbye “I love you.”

I said it back.

But I wanted to say:

“The perfume you wore last week

still lingers in my room.

It sits in the corners with the dust and the light,

like it’s waiting for you to come back.

I wrap myself in your favorite blanket,

and somehow, I feel you there—

the weight of you in the folds,

the ghost of your warmth on my skin.

When I step outside, your scent follows,

clinging to my shirt, my hair, my hands.

Every breeze feels like a reminder,

and my thoughts always fall back to you.

You’re not always here,

but I’ve let you live and breathe inside of me.

You move through my chest with every inhale,

settling in the spaces I never let anyone touch before.

Maybe I just said ‘I love you,’

but you’re the echo in everything I don’t say out loud.”