there’s a pain in my chest when i look at you

like i am tearing at the seams,

being stretched to breaking point, bursting

like a balloon with too much air

or a water tank that has no more room to fill.

it’s almost as if at any moment

my walls will collapse,

and all my doors will burst open

flooding us all, in a thousand different ways

in the form of agony and tear drops.

what a messy way to profess love

i must admit,

but i cannot seem to tell you any other way

and nothing i do is good enough

for you to see me the way i want to be seen.

there are birds that sing outside my window

and they remind me of you,

they don’t know i’m right there listening

as their lives turn golden in the sun,

in ways i could only dream of.

but when you love someone

you let them go,

their happiness is more important

and so i stitch up the seams and turn off the tap

so this flood never darkens your door.