It’s not the love that hurts.
It’s knowing you gave it,
showed up,
kept showing up—
and they never did.

Have you ever watched someone you love
clap for a stranger,
smile wide,
nod proud,
for the same things
you’ve been grinding at alone?

Like it don’t count when it’s you.

Like your effort is invisible
until it belongs to someone else.

And you sit with it,
that quiet kind of pain,
the kind that don’t break you all at once
but eats at you slow.

Fuck a heartbreak.
It isn’t about losing someone.
It’s about realizing they were never really there.