You said "forever"

...in parentheses.

You signed it "xo"

...but didn’t mean the kiss.

I screenshot the promise —

Still blurry with bliss.

You spoke like a poet with typos,

Heart emojis where truth should be.

I zoomed on your love like a photo,

But it came out too grainy to keep.

You timed your "I miss you" on Fridays,

So it hit while my guard was down.

You called me "the one" in a maybe,

Put your soul in a cardboard crown.

You said forever

But not out loud.

Typed it soft, in lowercase,

With room to walk it back somehow.

You said forever (in parenthesis)

Like a clause you could delete.

I read it twice, I read it wrong —

Now it's just a screen I keep.

I wanted bold.

You gave italics.

I was headline,

You were footnote,

Always smaller, always static.

You kept the love vague, indirect —

Left just enough to drag me in.

You wrote me like a side effect

Of something real you couldn’t begin.

You never said "never,"

You just paused.

Your love was a checkbox

Next to "just because."

You said forever — like a whisper,

Typed too fast, too soft to trust.

You pressed send, then faded quicker

Than your name in all that dust.

You said forever

(you said forever)

But not to me —

To someone easier to love.