“Background”
I am the echo in your laughter,
the arms that hold when storms begin,
the name you call at midnight’s edge—
but never first, not now, not then.
I bring the plates, I clear the mess,
I text to check you’re eating well.
You thank me with a fleeting nod,
then vanish in your brighter spells.
You shine; I clap from just offstage,
a quiet kind of standing ovation.
Your chaos finds me, every time—
but I go missed in celebration.
I hold the weight of every need
like it’s the only way to be.
But in a room full of my people,
why does no one carry me?
A background friend—steady, known,
dependable like roots or rain.
Yet never quite the headline name,
just comfort, never center stage.
I wonder what it’s like to be
the one who gets, not only gives.
To have someone show up for me,
unasked, unearned, just because—and live.
-Unknown
