How to Disappear Gently

First,

stop answering

to your name.

*

Let it fall

behind you

like a scarf in

the wind.

*

Wear silence

like a coat.

Button it up

to your throat.

*

Walk into a room

and become

furniture;

still, expected,

unnoticed.

*

Erase

the weight

of your

footsteps.

*

Practice leaving

no echo

when you speak.

Better yet,

speak

less.

*

Go

unheard.

*

Smile

without

teeth.

*

Nod

like

you

agree

even when

you’ve drifted far

from the conversation.

*

Forget

the

birthdays

on purpose.

*

Leave

your

phone

on vibrate

until it forgets how

to ring.

*

Delete

the

photos.

*

Then

the

messages.

*

Then

the

voicemails

you keep

“just in case.”

*

Fold your memories

into a drawer

you never open.

*

Write letters

you’ll never send.

Burn them

without reading them

twice.

*

If someone says,

“I miss you,”

do

not

answer.

*

If someone says,

“Where have you been?”

lie.

Say, “Nowhere.”

Say, “Around.”

*

Learn to breathe

like background noise.

Live between margins.

Stand just outside

the frame.

*

Eventually,

you will look

in the mirror

and see only

the things you

left behind.

*

Eventually,

you won’t need

a name

to feel complete.

*

This is not

forgetting.

*

It’s just an

artful

fade.

*

A

soft

vanishing.

*

Do not be afraid.

*

You’ll be light

enough

to float.