Careless Pause

They whisper tales of who I was,

In corners dark, with careless pause—

A version faded, worn, untrue,

A shadow of the past they knew.

They speak in echoes, not in light,

Of battles lost, not those I fight.

Their words are rooted in the past,

In chapters closed, too weak to last.

But I have grown beyond their gaze,

I have walked through fire, changed my ways.

The mirror shows a clearer face,

Not bound by guilt, regret, disgrace.

I owe no answers, no replies

To ghosts who never said goodbye.

For those who never sought the now,

Still wear the past upon their brow.

So let them talk—I am not confined

To frames they hung inside their minds.

I have leveled up, I have broken through…

They talk of me, but not the new.