“can you see me?”

You never noticed.

Only what you wanted to

You never noticed the quiet tearsher unspoken fears.

[poem by zoey rumbaugh ‘26]

But you noticed her keeping you at bay, so you punished her for trying to pull away.

You never noticed her soul draining, her fake smile waning.

You just noticed her slip ups with her grades, and struggles with meeting the guests with a happy face.

You never noticed her drifting away, until it was too late.

But you noticed the dishes in the sink, and the uncleaned plates.

You never noticed how she sought your approvaland got your unknown refusal.

You did notice how your yelling affected her, and kept doing it to control her.

You never noticed her favorite colorhow much she lived in techno color.

You did notice her day dreamsthen destroyed and replaced them with regimes.

You never noticed what she cared aboutwhat she dreamed about.

You just noticed she was pulling throughand wasn’t turning out like you.

You didn’t notice her sad songs, that went on for so long.

You just noticed her quietness, and met it with violence.

You never noticed how hard she tried, to be perfect for your pride.

You just noticed her flaws, and forgot about her beauty.

You never noticed how much she loved and adored youlooked up to you.

You just thought having her hate you was betterbetter than having her love you.

But what you didn’t notice was that she noticedshe noticed everything. Because she still loves you.

And still wisheswishes you will notice what you always missed Her.

Just her.

She wishes you noticed her.