i loved you

like a dog that never learned the difference between a hand that reaches to hold and one that reaches to hurt

i waited anyway

tail wagging

every time you came back

as if being chosen for a moment

was enough to forget

all the times i wasn't

you were the moon

beautiful from every distance

close enough to convince me

i could have you

far enough that i spent every night

reaching for something

that was never coming down

so i folded myself smaller

made room for every version of you every excuse every silence every promise that unraveled before morning

i called it love because i didnt know there was supposed to be something left of me

by the end

you still had the sky

and i was just a dog

looking up

waiting for a moon

that never once

I DO 🙋🙋🙋🙋