Let’s pretend you were here
All the times I needed you.
Let’s pretend that we stayed close,
That you’d never left,
That’d you’d held me near.
Let’s pretend I never cried when I should’ve slept,
That I’d had sweet dreams;
Your promises kept.
Let’s pretend I hadn’t grown up scared,
Of a world big and dark,
Of being left unprepared.
Let’s pretend the sun always rose,
That in my youth light was abundant,
With no malevolent foes.
Let’s pretend that shadows stayed far,
That fear wasn’t real.
That the dark was just temporary,
That my brokenness healed.
What would have happened in a world so
divine? In one full of sunshine
Life and bliss intertwined.
Would I have still learned to see in the dark?
To live without sun?
To see the beauty in stars?
Let’s pretend that you hadn’t strayed,
That my life hadn’t been ripped
apart. Would I still be as I am today?
With the perpetually broken heart?
But maybe it’s for the best,
All that came to be.
It made me who I am,
And who I want to be.
But once in a while,
When even the stars are hidden by
rain, Let’s pretend you were here,
That the bad times never came.
By Cindy Ceja
Cindy is an English major who takes her inspiration from real life. Her works revolve around struggle and largely depict how it shapes a person.