The Unnecessary Line
I. The Line No One Asked For
There is a line
drawn in quiet ink
between what matters
and what we pretend does not.
It rests unnoticed
at the margin of our days,
thin as a whisper,
fragile as dust on forgotten shelves.
We call it unnecessary—
that extra sentence,
that soft apology,
that pause before goodbye.
We strike it through
with hurried hands.
We erase it
with confident erasers.
We fold the page
and move on.
But the line remains.
It lingers in the corner
like a shadow at noon,
small but stubborn,
refusing to disappear.
And though we label it useless,
though we cross it out twice,
it hums beneath the surface
like a secret we cannot silence.
II. In the Middle of the Page
Sometimes the unnecessary line
sits in the middle—
interrupting logic,
breaking symmetry,
ruining the perfection
we worked so hard to design.
It does not rhyme
when the others rhyme.
It does not fit
the rhythm of the room.
It stands alone,
awkward and uneven,
like a thought spoken too honestly
in a world rehearsed.
And we dislike it for that.
We prefer our stories clean,
our emotions trimmed,
our paragraphs disciplined
like soldiers in formation.
But the unnecessary line
refuses formation.
It wanders across the page,
leans into white space,
breathes where others hold their breath.
It dares to say
what the polished lines avoid:
“I am afraid.”
“I am uncertain.”
“I am not finished.”
It is the line that trembles.
The line that breaks voice.
The line that carries truth
without decoration.
III. The Line Between People
There is another line—
invisible,
but heavier than ink.
The line between you and me.
The one drawn by pride,
by misunderstanding,
by words unsaid
and apologies delayed.
We think it is unnecessary.
We say,
“It’s nothing.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Forget it.”
But the line grows.
It thickens with silence.
It sharpens with distance.
It stretches across rooms
until even laughter cannot cross it.
What we call unnecessary
often becomes a wall.
And what we refuse to write
becomes the loudest absence
in the book of us.
If only we would write that extra line—
“I was wrong.”
“I miss you.”
“Let’s begin again.”
One simple sentence
could erase a thousand
carefully constructed barriers.
IV. The Line We Cross
There is also a line
we promise never to cross.
A boundary of fear.
A border of doubt.
A quiet edge
where dreams hesitate.
We draw it ourselves—
a neat division
between who we are
and who we might become.
“This is enough,” we say.
“This is safe.”
And beyond that line
lies risk.
Beyond it—
possibility.
We tell ourselves
that stepping over it
is unnecessary.
Why chase more?
Why risk falling?
Why disturb the familiar ground?
But the unnecessary line
is often the doorway
disguised as a warning.
The step we fear
is sometimes the step
that carries us forward.
The dream we dismiss
as unrealistic
may simply be waiting
for courage to underline it.
V. The Final Line
At the end of every poem
there is a final line.
Some are grand.
Some are quiet.
Some echo like thunder.
Some fade like mist.
But imagine
if the last line
never existed.
If the poem simply stopped—
mid-thought,
mid-breath,
mid-heartbeat.
Would it feel complete?
Perhaps the unnecessary line
is not unnecessary at all.
Perhaps it is the breath
between chaos and clarity.
The space where meaning settles.
The small stitch
that holds the fabric together.
The extra word
that turns a statement
into a confession.
The gentle pause
that turns noise
into music.
Maybe the unnecessary line
is the most human of all—
imperfect,
hesitant,
honest.
It may not shine
like the others.
It may not stand tall
in bold ink.
But it carries something rare:
The courage
to exist
without permission.
So leave it there—
that crooked sentence,
that fragile truth,
that vulnerable whisper.
Let it remain
in the margin of your life.
Because sometimes
the line we almost erase
is the line
that saves the poem.
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