Authored by Zahira Valdez

I Am Expansive Not Your Narrative

Your story is a void that doesn’t need to be filled.

It sits quietly, never changing.
No longer needing.
Just there.
Forgotten.

And that’s how you became:
emptiness in my life.

And it’s only because that’s how you wanted me,
something you longed never to exist.

So I became surreal,
like the stars in the sky:
celestial and luminous,
shining no matter what.

Stars exist in ancient light while shining through darkness,
they are illusionary.

You can look longingly at them,
at night,
when you’re lonely,
when you’re contemplating and wondering.

And that’s where I’ll be.

I was never the stories you were told,
or the stories you created in your head.

I’m the myth that never existed,
the galaxy above you.

Who is “they,” silly girl?

It was never me.