At some point
I stopped showing up.

Not in a way anyone would notice.
Just less of me
in the places I used to be.

Messages unanswered.
Plans that never happen.

The kind of absence
that slips easily
into the background of other people’s lives.

What I noticed later
was the silence around it.

No questions.
No one asking where I went.

Most likely
they think this is who I am.

Someone who keeps to herself.
Someone who prefers distance.

The truth is different.

I like people.
I always have.

But exhaustion changes things.

You cannot refill yourself
in the same place
that kept draining you.

So the days pass
in a smaller radius.

Less conversation.
Less movement outward.

Not because I want less life.

Because what remains of me
is still trying

to gather enough strength

to return to it.