Unseen Attempts

I remember that night, the spotlight shining,

a flame I tried to stoke with my loudest laugh,

yelled into the void, only to feel it vanish,

words hanging in the air, heavy with regret—

my need for recognition echoed like a drum,

every face turned away, laughter fading fast,

as if the room swallowed my voice whole,

how quickly hope evaporated, leaving silence.

A half-empty room, the walls still whispering,

but my attempt to dance for the crowd fell flat,

it feels strange now, that ache for attention,

as if I was shouting underwater, desperate,

my heart still yearning for connection,

but instead found solitude in the noise,

and so I sit, wondering how to be seen,

as the echoes of that moment linger like ghosts.