Apologies to the Past

I’m sorry things ain’t what they used to be—

I say it like an apology,

like time took a wrong turn

and I’m somehow to blame.

We were softer then.

Or maybe just less honest

about the cracks forming underneath.

Back when laughter came easier

and silence didn’t feel so loaded.

Now everything carries history.

Every word knows what came before it.

Every pause remembers

how things fell apart

without making a sound.

I miss the simplicity—

the way hope didn’t need proof,

the way love didn’t feel like work

or risk or loss waiting its turn.

But I also know

we didn’t lose something for nothing.

People grow.

Truth shows up.

Life asks more of us

than nostalgia can answer.

So I’m sorry, yes—

for the distance,

for the change,

for the way “used to be”

still aches when I say it.

But I’m learning

that different doesn’t always mean broken.

Sometimes it just means

we survived long enough

to become real.