Introduction

This collection explores the quiet ache of being unseen, forgotten, and replaceable — and the resilience of rediscovering dreams. Each poem is a fragment of the human condition: invisibility, neglect, anonymity, broken masks, and finally, renewal. Together, they form a journey from shadow to starlight.

1. Invisibility

Theme: The pain of being unseen, the paradox of craving recognition yet fearing exposure. Tone: Raw, questioning, restless.

2. The Forgotten

Theme: Neglect and erasure, the fear of being nothing when life gives nothing. Tone: Melancholic, searching, existential.

3. Just Another Face

Theme: Replaceability, anonymity in the crowd, the futility of demanding remembrance. Tone: Resigned, reflective, stark.

4. Broke Smile

Theme: The mask of adulthood, the broken smile everyone carries, the silence of unasked questions. Tone: Honest, intimate, quietly devastating.

5. Dream (Epilogue)

Theme: Renewal, rediscovery of imagination, the possibility of hope. Tone: Gentle, wistful, uplifting. Function: Serves as the light after the shadows, reminding the reader that even forgotten faces can dream again.

Closing Note

Shadows and Stars is not just about despair — it is about the cycle of being unseen and remembered, broken and healed, forgotten and reborn. It ends with the reminder that even in the darkest night, stars wait to be rediscovered.

1.Invisibility

They don’t see you too,

and invisible they have made you.

When you are here or not there,

you are invisible.

They see past you like

you don’t exist.

Yet they want to be seen.

What do you have to show

that has not been seen?

You hide from the cameras,

you hide from being seen.

So why do you cry

when you are invisible

and not made famous?

They don’t speak much,

a dying flame you are.

Why do you want to be seen?

Is being invisible stressful?

Will eyes see or shame?

They see past you more like

though you like a ghost,

that hunts their lives to be felt,

 but never seen.

2. The Forgotten

They say when life gives you lemons

you make lemonade — but what if

life never gives you anything?

What do you make?

Does having nothing

make me nothing?

Does this mean I am dust

to be forgotten when rain comes?

To be hated

because nothing can grow on me?

Does this make me invisible

when wind comes?

Become a cloud that you

turn around so I am not

in your face and eyes?

What if life forgot

I even exist — what then?

What should I do?

Who should I question?

Come naked, lived naked

and left naked.

Yet no one remembers.

I am the forgotten.

3. Just Another Face

Just another face in the crowd,

never to be remembered.

People come and go, none to

see the bleeding wound

that you carry.

Life goes on no matter

what, if you are bleeding

or not. People notice you,

but you are easily forgotten —

just another face, just

another person.

You are not the smartest

person, nothing stands out

in you, so you are just

another face.

Things move on when

you are not around. You

are not needed. You

are replaceable — just another

face. But at least you

have a face. Most don’t.

You are the same — you

forget the faces you see.

So why demand they

remember yours?

4. Broke Smile

The smile you carried has been lost.

You are learning how to smile again.

You never realized how hard it was

until now.

The broken smile you give

never reaches your eyes.

The broken smile you have now —

the biggest lie you tell everyone.

Life has moved on.

No one asks if you are okay.

Life is just teaching you

how to be a grown-up.

So be one.

Being a grown-up means hiding,

never letting them see

the parts you showed before.

Everyone carries that broken smile.

You’ve seen it on every face,

haven’t you?

So, tell me —

Is it that there’s no one

you can take the smile off around?

Or is it that you feel

like you shouldn’t? Have you asked if they are, okay?

5. Dream

Have you had a dream lately,

or have you forgotten how to?

You had big dreams,

even stars could not reach them.

So… what happened?

You used to think they were crazy dreams.

Then you had normal dreams.

And now… you don’t have them anymore.

The star that used to shine in your eyes

no longer shines.

They look dead.

Do you want to be a doctor or a pilot?

Maybe you want to play dress-up again?

Maybe the light and dreams will come back.

Maybe…

you will remember

how to be a dreamer again.

For those who have felt unseen, unheard, or forgotten. This collection is for the ones who carry broken smiles, who walk through crowds as shadows, who wonder if their dreams have dimmed beyond return.

These poems are fragments of silence and longing but also sparks of light. They remind us that invisibility is not the end — that even in the darkest night, stars wait to be rediscovered.

May these words be a mirror for your hidden ache, and a lantern for your forgotten dreams.