Painted Memory

Painted Memory

I gave my heart more than once,

Watched every goodbye become a ghost.

I loved like I had nothing to lose,

Still somehow I was the one they chose

To leave behind, to disappear,

To turn forever into another year.

And sometimes I still ask myself,

“Was there something wrong with me?”

Maybe I loved too deeply,

Maybe I stayed too long,

Maybe I kept believing

In a love that was already gone.

Why am I always the one left behind?

Why do the people I love fade with time?

I carry the memories, but not the pain,

I remember the sunshine, I remember the rain.

There’s no love left for me to go back through,

No old feelings waiting to come alive anew.

What we were is somewhere I can’t find—

Just a painted memory

Hanging in the back of my mind.

I remember the little things,

The laughter, the nights, the promises made.

I remember who I was back then,

Before every goodbye taught me to change.

But time has a way of softening scars,

And turning broken pieces into stars.

Now I can look at yesterday

Without wishing it would stay.

Maybe nothing was wrong with me,

Maybe some hearts aren’t meant to stay.

Some people are chapters,

Not the ending of the story we pray.

Why was I always the one left behind?

Maybe I was never meant to lose my light.

I carry the memories, but not the pain,

I remember the sunshine, I remember the rain.

There’s no love left for me to go back through,

No old feelings waiting to make me choose.

What we were is somewhere I can’t find—

Just a painted memory

Hanging in the back of my mind.

And no, I don’t hate you anymore,

I don’t wait beside that old door.

I don’t need another reason why,

Some things end without a final goodbye.

You were a part of who I became,

But you don’t get to own my name.

I loved you once, and that was true—

But I finally learned

I can live without you.

Maybe I’m not the one left behind,

Maybe I’m the one who finally survived.

The memories stay, but the feelings are gone,

And somehow I still keep moving on.

There’s no love left for me to go back through,

No unfinished story I need to renew.

I can smile at the picture in my mind—

Because what we had is beautiful…

Even if it was never meant to last this time.

So paint me a picture of yesterday,

Let it fade slowly, let it drift away.

I won’t erase it, I won’t pretend—

Some memories stay…

Even after love ends.