Author's note: this poem was written for yumeko-yosei, who vanished from my life without a word, and who left a broken heart behind.

Fade in, fade out

That was your MO

Yet I still believed you somehow

When you said you’d stick around this time

Do you know how much

Those late night chats meant to me?

Looking back I wonder,

Did they mean anything to you?

You were going through some problems.

I really didn’t have to,

But I listened as you talked

I even tried to help you, like a real friend.

How I worried that night!

When you didn’t come online

As you had promised you would,

But I hadn’t thought anything of it

It wasn’t until the next day

When I didn’t see anything from you

That I began to wonder

As a week passed, then two

You said you were an introvert

But that still isn’t an excuse

For abandoning your friends

Without even a word

Tears filled my eyes as I type these words

Blurring the keyboard as well as my screen

All I can do is wonder:

Did I ever mean anything to you?