To All Of The Girls You Once Loved Poem by Za7ra Sulaiman

When I think of you,
I think of late nights—
those dull, drifting fights
over the hum of a phone line,
the kind that leave you lonelier
than being alone.

Waking beside someone
whose presence meant less
than the silence that followed.

A heart once circled your name—
not by me,
but it mattered once,
didn't it?

You wandered through towns,
held hands with ghosts
just to feel like time was moving.
But the past—yours and mine—
moved in lines
too parallel not to meet.

The stars folded in,
quiet and deliberate,
until we found each other
beneath them.

And now—
you call me "baby"
like it's always been mine to hear,
and treat me gently,
like love is not a thing to win
but something you protect.

And I see it—
how every girl who once loved you
left a trace
you carried to me.
Not baggage,
but blueprint.

Every closed door,
every wrong turn,
every name you tried to forget—
it all led here.

And I am grateful
for the hearts that softened you,
for the lessons taught in leaving.
Because you arrived ready
to stay.