Amelia James Poetry

Did you know the ending
the moment you met me?
Was I already
a bookmark in your story—
temporary, folded,
meant to hold your place
until something shinier came along?

Was I your trail run?
Practice before perfection?
Did you say forever
just to try the words on
like a suit you’d never wear again?

I still wonder—
was it easy for you
to walk away from a girl
who memorized your laugh
like it was gospel?

Did you have to exorcise me?
Cleanse your memory
with white sheets
and “she’s not like her” prayers?
Or do I still echo
in the back of your mind
when a song you forgot I loved
finds its way onto the radio?

Do you ever hear He Is We
and flinch?

Do you remember
how I cried during slow dances?
How I looked at you like
you were more miracle than man?

Or did you bury that too?

Have I just become a phantom—
a myth that once knew your secrets,
now making friends
with the demons you still deny?

Because I still dream in rewind.
I still reach for your name
when no one’s listening.
And I just need to know—
was I ever real to you,
or just
a rehearsal?

-Amelia James