Please stop breathing.
You pull the air from my lungs every time.

Don’t you dare smile;
You grin from ear to ear and my ears turn red.
Close your eyes,
I always find myself lost in them.

Do not say things that I only wish were true.
Your compassion is killing me.
Each warm word is an icy dagger piercing my chest.
I beg you to be rude, ignorant, and deceitful.

As you lift me up my secret weighs me down.
I cringe as my love for you swells.
Your love is fall and mine is spring;
Only by definition are they equal.

My mind wraps up the thoughts that you could never re-gift.
I cling to each last fleeting hope.
You are the character who is perfect but will never step across the yellowed pages.
I struggle to close the book,
and think that maybe the pain will cease to exist along with you.

Please stop breathing.
You pull the air from my lungs every time.