Tough Love

I just wrote you a poem, my heart spilled on a page, Each word a heavy secret I’d hidden in a cage. I never said “I love you,” but the truth was in the lines, Tucked between the metaphors, beneath the silent signs. It felt like stars were shifting, like fate had come to play, Each thought of you a galaxy that carried me away. I hoped with every buzz, each little glowing screen, That maybe you were feeling all the things I hadn’t seen. But then you said it gently, like trying not to break, “I don’t know if I like you,” and my soul began to shake. I felt the edges crumble, the walls I’d built with care, The poem in my pocket now too fragile to share. I just wrote you a poem, and now it stings to say, That something once so beautiful just led my heart astray. But still I’m standing here, and maybe that’s enough, To learn that love means speaking, even though it’s tough.