you might find it ironic,
that someone who's never been in love,
claims to know stages of loving.
but through trail and error
it has become easy to place,
the three telltale signs,
of a child so sick in love
they can hardly see.
the first stage
is always the gasping of breaths,
when you're around them.
how a new sense of awareness opens up,
and life doesn't feel
quite the same anymore.
lonely friday nights aren't lonely anymore,
because even if you're not there,
you're roaming their mind.
the second stage
is the way they change themselves
when the see a certain quirk
in themselves
that they think you might not like.
because to love you means everything,
even if a part of themselves is destroyed.
from there
you can truly begin to love them,
whether it's the real them or not.
the last stage,
is the day it all begins to stop:
the longing glances,
the hitch in breath,
the blushing red cheeks,
the stars in their eyes.
because love isn't always cliche,
love isn't always kind.
love means trials and tribulations
not a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.
you'd never imagine
the amount of effort love takes
to get through all the bad,
so you can feel all the good once more.
so maybe i haven't been in love,
and perhaps i may never be,
but if falling in love means
a fluttery feeling for a while,
and then the devastation
of falling out of love, eventually -
whether it be in a month or twenty years,
i'm almost positive,
i'd rather feel
the bright light of a friendship,
than the sourness of a broken heart.