There's a softness buried within you that makes me want time to slow down, to not miss anything to not mishandle something that means so much. Like something the world moved past and dropped too quickly not realizing the seemingly tough exterior that they were holding held softness. You get picked up looking unaffected but that core bounced against those rough walls you've built and you were never the same inside. You're a beautiful being that should've been cherished all along and I find myself wanting to make up for that. I think parts of you became quiet just to be kept. I don't want you to be a ghost of your past and I don't want to be another person who passes through you carelessly. There's a loneliness in you that feels older than it should be. People don't realize you're something to be felt not physically seen to be understood. You deserved to be chosen in ways that didn't feel uncertain. I want to remind you of your physical life of how real you are, and how deeply you matter. You were left out in the cold too long but your warmth still exists deep within you and I can still feel it.