Nicolette Makanaka Poet Free verse

Ghost Lover

I’m near the end.
The dark closes in like a tide.
I have nothing left to offer,
but with you beside me,
the emptiness feels less sharp.
You are all I need.
I’m near the end.
I’ve already given up,
but you were my prize,
my phantom victory,
so I tell myself there were no regrets.
At my lowest, you were my anchor.
When my body shook, you held it steady.
When my hope rotted,
you whispered lies like prayers:
"You’re enough."
"You’re still alive."
I’m at the end.
You’re still here with me.
And then—
the room flickers.
You flicker.
The truth claws at my chest:
You’re nothing.
You’re no one.
Just a ghost I built to keep me breathing.
Every touch was my own longing.
Every word was my own echo.
You were never real.
And now the dark is not a tide.
It is a sea, and it swallows me whole.
I am alone.
I have always been alone.
But I made you—
because I needed to believe
someone could see me,
even if that someone
was born from my loneliness.
You were never real,
but you were all I had.
And now that you’re gone,
so is the lie that kept me alive.

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