You Said Forever (in Parentheses)

You said "forever" ...in parentheses. You signed it "xo" ...but didn’t mean the kiss. I screenshot the promise — Still blurry with bliss. You spoke like a poet with typos, Heart emojis where truth should be. I zoomed on your love like a photo, But it came out too grainy to keep. You timed your "I miss you" on Fridays, So it hit while my guard was down. You called me "the one" in a maybe, Put your soul in a cardboard crown. You said forever But not out loud. Typed it soft, in lowercase, With room to walk it back somehow. You said forever (in parenthesis) Like a clause you could delete. I read it twice, I read it wrong — Now it's just a screen I keep. I wanted bold. You gave italics. I was headline, You were footnote, Always smaller, always static. You kept the love vague, indirect — Left just enough to drag me in. You wrote me like a side effect Of something real you couldn’t begin. You never said "never," You just paused. Your love was a checkbox Next to "just because." You said forever — like a whisper, Typed too fast, too soft to trust. You pressed send, then faded quicker Than your name in all that dust. You said forever (you said forever) But not to me — To someone easier to love.