Modern Muses Magazine
Poetry — “I Only lie in the Light”
Issue XX, 2024

I feel you most at night— the hour you forget I exist.

While you dream of success and material gains,

I lie awake,

feeling your cold touch fading from my arms.

The daylight is manageable.

I pick up hobbies I don't love, invent tasks no one asked for, chase busywork like it's salvation.

And sometimes, I even forget.

Forget the ache,

the hollow shape you left behind.

No apology. No closure.

At night, your silence roars.

Silence-your most practiced skill. Like a hidden speaker

only I can hear, blaring through my bones.

When the sun rises, I lie to her—

I say I'm healing.

But the moon knows better.

She sees me unravel,

truth bleeding from my mouth like prayer.

So while you sleep easy under the stars,

I'll tuck myself away until morning comes and I can lie again.