On the first page
of our story,
nothing I could do, could have protected me from you.
Our romance continued growing
like a rose, in the summer.

You meant everything to me,
the way you kept me guessing.
I’m the one who wanted to be with you,
right there by your side.

Do you remember the nights
we drove around crazy in love?
The places we saw?
The kisses
and the hugs that were shared?

I never knew what was coming.

I was forever fascinated
by the love we found.
I never wanted to waste a day,
stuck in the shadow of my mistakes,
of not seeing the true you.

I let you do everything you wanted,
gave you everything you needed,
even let you hang around other guys.
But, maybe I was dreaming.
I missed something big.

You weren’t even seeing the side of me you should have.
I needed to be myself.
My fearful, jealous, uneasy self.
I should have been nervous.
I finally got the girl and she found another guy
to take my place.

In time, when his shadow crossed mine,
when he became more important,
when he became the one for you.
The broken clock was my only comfort.
But you thought, “A broken heart can’t be that bad.”

You’ll always be my hero,
the way you hide everything.
I feel sorry for the new guy;
he doesn’t know what he’s getting into.
I’m learning about myself,
and I want to thank you.

You helped me see the signs.
I will never sneak around the way you did –
it hurt too much.
Scarred.
That’s what I now am,
thanks to you.

With the fights that we had,
I’m glad.
Now there’s more than distance between us.
And the stars spell out your name.
Forever reminding me,
of the rose,
that summer.

And the pain.