You said no one could make you laugh
the way I did.
But there you sit
in the coffeehouse my sister works at,
laughing with someone else
as if I were the one across from you.
We fell apart when we should’ve been falling in love.
Uncertainty awakening our broken hearts,
trying to fill in a perfect painting
with brushes that had already dried up.
Ruined and helpless,
I tried to reach out to you,
but then I heard that
you were out with her,
and I was too afraid to.
Too afraid of the words you’d speak that
would take the air from my lungs and
leave me with nothing inside of my soul, but
your voice would be so warm that
I would take your rejection as a compliment.
As you sip your mocha latte with someone from class,
claiming to need a tutor in chemistry, even though
you’ve had straight A’s since kindergarten,
I will stand in the shadows, missing you,
longing for you,
loving you.
My feelings for you will forever remain
like tear-stained pages in your favorite book of poetry,
a constant reminder of what was and
what could have been.
And what will always be.