I See You Poem by Sturgill Mill

I see you—
I see the attention you desperately seek,
the attention you so deeply deserve.
I see you.

I see the tears,
held back by the walls of your eyelids,
a dam struggling to hold the weight of the Ohio River.
I see the pain hiding inside,
buried deep in your honey-brown eyes.
I see the isolation you retreat into
when he doesn't see you.
I see you.
But do you see me?

Do you see me?
Do you see the attention I desperately seek from you?
Do you see me?
Do you hear the pain in my voice
when I try to speak?
Do you notice the desperation on my face
when I'm with you?
Or the carelessness I pretend to show
when you tell me he's the one?
Do you even see me?
Or am I just another shadow in your world?

Do you see me?
No.
I don't think you do.
Silly of me to believe you might.

Remember those nights—
when you and he would fight,
and I was the one who answered your calls?
You don't see me.
But I see you.

When will you get a clue?
Who?
You.
The beauty I see when I look at you.

I see you.
But nobody sees me.
And nobody sees you the way I do.