Before the Light Went Out

It was a day like any other, then the whole world stopped mid-step. An empty chair, a silent table, and a name that cuts like glass. He had a laugh that broke the dark, he had two hands that always gave. But in his pockets lived the storms that no one ever tried to save. The world kept screaming - Be much stronger! He stayed quiet, like he had no right. Every - I’m fine became a scar, every smile a door to night. We were beside him, but we were blind, while all his silence cracked inside. We were beside him, but we couldn’t hear the sound of a heart breaking through the fear. Before the light went out, before the night took him away, I wish I could have heard him one more time just hear him say: Before the light went out, before he disappeared from view, I wish I could have screamed at him: You never had to be alone! You never had to be alone! Love can burn you like a fire, it promises warmth, then leaves you ash. The world’s expectations are like stones at first so light, then crushing flesh. He was too good for this cruel world, the one that says, Don’t cry, don’t fall. It says, Just deal with it, don’t overthink, then walks away when someone drowns. Now I know that words don’t always save us. Sometimes you just need to sit beside. Sometimes you don’t need to ask what happened just say, I’m here. Please stay alive. Before the light went out, before the night took him away, I wish I could have heard him one more time — just hear him say: Before the light went out, before he disappeared from view, I wish I could have screamed at him: You never had to be alone! You never had to be alone! I don’t want to remember him by what happened in the end. I want to remember all his good days, his wild dreams, his warmth, his hand. Let the sky not steal his name! Let it live in every word we say! Because people never truly leave us while someone still remembers them today! If you could hear this voice tonight, let it tell you: You mattered. Let it tell you: We were with you, even when we failed to show it. Too late! Too late for I’m sorry! Too late! Too late for Please stay! The world killed him with silence, we killed him with looking away. Now all that’s left is emptiness and questions with no answer to say. Before the light went out, before the night took him away, he left behind so much goodness that one tear could never hold its weight. Before the light went out, before he disappeared from view, one question still remains inside us: Do all the people that we love really know that they matter too? It was a day like any other… then the world became too quiet. But a trace remains that time can’t erase and a name we’ll keep on saying.