Once

Once

I gathered up all my trust and slid it across the

east coast just so I could

love someone real hard

And another time

I busted open the piggy bank of my soul

and opened myself like an apple

for someone to know I cared enough to be that vulnerable

And there was this one time

that I decided that

the depth and density of my heart was just so big

that I could withstand loving someone without them even loving me back

And the last time

I tried to love someone

I built stone dreams on sand castle blueprints

and in return they loved me like a jack lantern loves pumpkin seeds

and I and we and they were empty

So now I decided that heart is a big balloon

and it really will pop

And heck, if I was meant to love without reciprocity

Birds were meant to exist without song

or sun without shine

And hell, smoke was meant to exist even without fire.