To the Wanderer—

I hope you are doing okay.

They told you.

“Think of the bright side.”

And you tried.

You really did.

Because you care.

So you look too deep.

And when you looked—

you saw me.

You wanted to be

the kind of person

who understands the world,

who could smile through it.

So your heart

refused to unsee

what others buried.

My truth curled up inside your chest

like something living.

Quiet. Heavy.

Unwilling to be erased.

You made people see

things they didn’t want to.

They said you hurt them.

So you became lonely.

With me.

This is what you told me:

“The shadow is not wrong.

The ache is not failure.

The truth that stings

is still truth.”

And anyone who tells you

to be brighter

instead of braver

has not earned

the softness

of your trust.

And I—

I started to believe.

Maybe—

I don’t need 

to hide in the dark.

to be loved.

—Your friend,

 The Shadow