I turn up the radio
only to hear
A calm voice break through the silence
like shattered glass
as I quickly discern the man behind that beautiful sound is
the one and only
Bruno Mars

With gentle notes floating around our ears
serenading us with an eloquence of pitch
Syllables dancing into long words
about violent
Self inflicted death
suicide.
his angelic instrument of a voice box paints pictures in our eyes
as he slides
from note to note
About catching grenades for you
Tears of inspiration slide down our cheeks as he assures us
that he would
Throw his head on a blade for you
He'd jump in front of a train for you
Carefully asserting that he would
die for you
but you won’t do the same 

Bruno
You have a beautiful voice
but this song irritates my ears a bit
this song ignites my fears a bit
because yes, your devotion is admirable
passionate
and strong
but if I was her
I’d be scared of this song.
it’s not comforting to know
that I would have to leave morphine at your door
if I didn’t love you anymore.

Now Bruno,
I’m not saying you can’t feel this way
but I am saying you cannot threaten her
if she doesn’t feel the same
because yes, heartbreak is painful
dark and hollow
but you cannot give and simply expect her to follow
I don't find it romantic to throw your pulse
your breath
your life
into her hands
because
what if it wasn’t consensual?

in the seventh grade
My best friend had a boyfriend
They liked each other as much as two seventh graders can
Texting and flirting
and awkwardly laughing to fill silence
And it may have seemed serious at the time
but two twelve years olds can only be so serious you know

However, about a month into the relationship things did get
serious
her boyfriend was discovered to have a cancerous tumor in his lower back and was restricted to a wheelchair and hospital grounds
His name was only mentioned in a serious tone
The empty seat in class spoke for itself in the silence 
the colorful cards and balloons helped fill the vacancy of that sterile room
That sterile, quiet,  gray time in our lives
When us twelve year olds ran out of things to say
but could not laugh the awkward silence away
because the silence
was already broken enough

But during that time he held on to my friend like a lifeboat
That poor boy gripped his girlfriend’s arms like a child and told her
that she was the love of his life
that she was his only hope left
that she    was the reason he was living
He even said that
If she broke up with him
he would kill himself

who would have imagined that her first relationship would carry such a heavy weight as this
The awkward laughs turned to heavy tears
As my friend 
tried to comprehend
How she fell into the role
As the lifeboat to the soul
of a kid she merely knew from school
Crying because SHE could very possibly
cause of the end of a human life
And SHE
Never asked for this
when she said yes to the relationship

And despite what the doctors say
that disease never really faded away
it pinned its hands down on my friend’s chest
The notion that she owed him love continued to infest
The idea that without her compliance
His life was not complete
Because he somehow believed
that his “love”
Must be shared
Must be practiced 
Tongue in her mouth
when she did not ask for it
But he  did it because he loved her
And he  put his life on the line
isn't that just so romantic?

Maybe I'm a just a ranting feminist
But I think I'm just spitting some truth
And if I leave you with one thing it's that
Love is a selfish pursuit
Don't get me wrong
love
is a beautiful thing
Gentle and soft
like when bruno mars sings

And love
Is something for everybody
But love
is not something we OWE to anybody
If the only thing holding your relationship together
Is a grenade in your hands
I HOPE
It explodes
Cause GOD DAMN
She owes you nothing
Not silly little texts
Or twelve year old kisses
NO
You may not parade on the landscape of her body just because you have a gun to your forehead
NO
You MAY NOT
Hold her happiness in one hand and a knife in the other
you MAY NOT
Dictate her life, her choices, her body just because you
“love” her

So Bruno
it WAS unfair
that you gave her all you had and
she tossed it in the trash
she tossed it in the trash
yes she did
but what you need to know
is that love is never owed
cause
the most beautiful love
is consensual.