Romance, According to Calendars

Rule number one: February romances were not built to last.

He knows how to tell you he wants you and

make it sound like the only truth that has ever existed. Sings you

old tunes and slow dances in silent rooms.

But he tells you you're beautiful in stuttered stops

and starts in a tongue forcing words out to make room to

play against your skin.

He's putting on another girl's songs in the car and you

you   (know)

       you    (hurt)

you smile and sing along.

He can kiss you, lights out in deserted auditoriums.

He cannot hold your hand in crowded fluorescent hallways.

Cannot solidify a murky grey commitment that is never there

when you need to lean into it. Does not see you

how you should be seen and for that

just remember darling, February romances were not built to last. Wait for what

Marches onwards. Wait for future Februaries.