Ruth Valenzuela Ruth Valenzuela

Trapped

i am trapped

in a world

a world unknown to me

what is true

what is uncertain

the light

the darkness

the good

the bad

happiness

sadness

everything feels interchangeable

when you trust

they hurt you

when you do not trust

you hurt yourself

either way

the damage arrives

i wrap myself

in a vicious circle

round and round

no exit sign

no pause

routine consumes me

slowly

quietly

loneliness

my most consistent companion

i spend my days

wanting to be like everyone else

forgetting

how to be myself

i love

and i give everything

in the end

i am the only one left empty

suffering

depression

words people call normal

hurt

does it even matter anymore

love

what the fuck is that

live

for what

family

home

i do not even know

what home means

pain and regret

run in my veins

i drown in memories

punishments

care

weary tears

i was born

i loved

i hated

what else is left

a world

an unknown world

the same one

i once tried to survive

memories come and go

i do not know where i am

or why i am here

the only thing i know

the only thing that stays

is the image

of you

leaving

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Ruth Valenzuela Ruth Valenzuela

Column

i remember telling you once
that i would stop writing about people

people who somehow
always end up hurting me

hurting me enough
to make me cry
the kind of cry
that feels like grief

regrettably
those people become important

i see them every day
i talk to them
and slowly
without noticing
they become part of my routine

my day to day

i get used to their presence
the sound of their voice
their laugh
their humor
even their habits

and i begin to build around them

i feel calm with them
safe
alive

after a while
i realize how much they matter

i tell them

they say they feel it too

a friendship forms
so close
it feels structural

like if they disappear
everything collapses

they become irreplaceable

it happened to me again

recently

i did not think too much at first
i let it grow quietly

and unfortunately
things did not work out

honestly
i ruined it

i know that

and now that he is gone
i feel alone

abandoned

sad in a way that sits in the chest

the worst part

he seems unaffected

he looks the same
steady
untouched

no visible sign
that he needed me

that hurts more than the leaving

i made him a column in my life
one of the pillars
holding everything upright

firm
stable

and when it was time to give back
what was given

i failed

you were attentive
and instead of returning that care
i became greedy

i wanted more

more
and more

i am sorry

i know things will not be the same

i accept that

i just hope
that one day
when you look back

you see me

and understand
it was never my intention to harm

and maybe

in that future

i will be different

not someone else

just
better

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Ruth Valenzuela Ruth Valenzuela

Projection

when she met him

she was already cracked
already carrying too much silence

alone
aching
trying to survive her own thoughts

he smiled
and it felt like rescue

he hugged
and it felt like shelter

he cared
or at least he performed it well

she trusted him
his words
his promises

she believed him

every sentence he spoke
became scripture

his smile
a miracle

his kisses
oxygen

she did not notice
how easily she handed him divinity

he wore tenderness
like a tailored suit

a rehearsed hero
just for her

and she
already fragile
slipped naturally
into the role of damsel

what she did not see

what she refused to see

was the thin string
looped around his ears

holding everything in place

the smile
the softness
the illusion

it was a mask

and by the time the fabric shifted
by the time she saw the seams

it was too late

she was broken again

and him

he had already replaced the mask

polished it
reshaped it

and added another heart
to the quiet collection he carries

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Ruth Valenzuela Ruth Valenzuela

The unedited version

When I saw you

i fell in love

but you did not

so i began negotiating with myself

i changed my attitude
softened my edges
lowered my volume

i changed my hair
my clothes
the way i walked into rooms

i changed my manners
my routine
my favorite things

i edited my words
filtered my thoughts
reshaped my laughter

little by little
i convinced myself
it was growth

but it was hunger

i changed myself
for you

and when i finally stood in front of you
wearing this polished version
this carefully constructed compromise

you looked at me
like i was a stranger

you did not recognize me

and that is when it settled

i changed
but you

without even realizing

you had fallen for
who i used to be

the unedited one
the loud one
the honest one

the one i erased

and suddenly
it was too late

because i did not know
how to become her again

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Ruth Valenzuela Ruth Valenzuela

Notes to self

be honest

even when it would be easier to stay quiet

be understanding

because everyone is carrying something unseen

be loyal

not only to others

but to your own values

be truthful

even when your voice shakes

be open minded

let the world be bigger than your assumptions

be thoughtful

with your words

they live longer than you think

be considerate

empathy is a quiet power

be reliable

be someone who keeps their promises

be mature

choose growth over ego

be kind

especially when it is inconvenient

be friendly

warmth changes rooms

be happy

or at least allow yourself the chance to be

be unselfish

but not at the cost of your own peace

be cheerful

find light where you can

be broad minded

curiosity keeps you alive

be tactful

truth does not need cruelty

be appreciative

notice the small mercies

be respectful

to others

and to yourself

be grateful

even for lessons disguised as loss

be observant

there is meaning in the details

be lively

let your spirit move freely

be creative

turn your life into art

but most important

be yourself

not a diluted version

not a quieter version

not the version that fits someone else’s comfort

just you

fully

without apology

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Ruth Valenzuela Ruth Valenzuela

2:48AM

today is one of those nights

when everything loses its meaning

one of those nights

where i stare at the ceiling

as if it might answer me

as if cracks in the paint

could form explanations

one of those nights

where i search for reasons

for justifications

for something that makes the ache make sense

one of those nights

where my heart keeps beating

but time refuses to move

where the world continues somewhere else

and i remain suspended

between thought and feeling

one of those nights

where i cry quietly

so quietly

even the dark does not notice

i swallow my words

let them dissolve behind closed lips

while my eyes slowly shut

not because i found peace

but because exhaustion

sometimes feels like mercy

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Ruth Valenzuela Ruth Valenzuela

Missing

sometimes
it is good to close your eyes

and think about the people
who are no longer here
the ones we know are not coming back
at least not in the way we once held them

when i do
there is this quiet warmth
like sunlight through closed curtains

it feels like they are still around
watching over me
standing somewhere just beyond what i can see
protecting
guiding
knowing

knowing how much i love them
knowing how deeply i still miss them

grief is strange like that
it hurts
but it also glows

even though i cannot see them anymore
even though i cannot hear their voice
or feel their hands

they live somewhere steady inside me

every memory
every laugh
every lesson
every small ordinary moment

kept safe
within the love that never left

missing someone does not mean they are gone
it means they mattered
it means they still matter

and sometimes
closing my eyes
is enough to feel them again

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Ruth Valenzuela Ruth Valenzuela

Red String

It all begins with an idea.

there is an old chinese legend

about an elderly woman

who walks through the world at night

tying red string around people’s pinkies.

at the other end of each thread

is the person they are destined to meet.

no matter the distance.

no matter the time.

no matter the chaos in between.

i look at my own hands sometimes

and imagine the string.

thin. invisible.

stretched across cities

across versions of myself

across mistakes i have not stopped replaying.

who is tied to the end of mine?

what kind of heart holds the other side?

are they soft?

are they patient?

are they someone who will understand

why i overthink silence

why i memorize tone

why i hesitate before jumping?

will i be happy when our threads finally pull tight?

or will it feel familiar

like something i almost recognized once?

and sometimes the thought unsettles me

what if i have already met them?

what if our strings brushed

and i called it coincidence?

what if i felt the pull

and mistook it for fear?

what if destiny stood in front of me

and i chose comfort instead?

i wonder if the string ever tangles

if it ever waits

if it ever forgives hesitation.

i wonder

if it is still pulling.

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Ruth Valenzuela Ruth Valenzuela

Attachment Style

It all begins with an idea.

i am the kind of person who can build galaxies out of crumbs.
give me a word and i will stretch it into a paragraph.
give me a dot and i will swear it is a constellation waiting to be named.

i have always loved meaning.
i dissect tone, pauses, the way someone says “okay.”
i read between lines that were never even written.
everything feels symbolic. everything feels layered.

but here is the part that unravels me.
when love leaves, i cannot decode it.
i cannot annotate heartbreak.
i cannot outline my way out of it.

i watch people close chapters like they are turning off a light.
breakups, illusions, one sided loves
they fold them neatly and move forward.

i do not.

once i let someone in,
once i attach,
my nervous system memorizes them.
the sound of their laugh.
the timing of their replies.
the almosts.

and when it ends,
i loop.

round and round
like a hamster convincing itself the wheel is progress.
like running in circles hoping the ground will open into an exit.

i cry over what was
and what never even was.
over spilled milk
over imagined futures
over potential.

i tell myself i need to learn how to move on.
i tell myself i need to stop magnifying the small things.
to stop turning crumbs into universes.
to become lighter. less attached.

but maybe the lesson is not becoming a different person.
maybe it is learning how to hold depth without drowning in it.
how to feel fully without looping endlessly.

i do not need to erase who i am.
i just need to learn
how to step off the wheel…

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Ruth Valenzuela Ruth Valenzuela

Greetings

It all begins with an idea.

Thanks for visiting my humble abode

here were my words take shape

where my mind runs free

and memories reminice

welcome and share some saudade with me.

The grass is greener where you water it” – Neil Barringham

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