I am not going to fall apart

because I have been there

and done that

and I have the scars to prove it

But I am not a toy

for you to pick up

and play with

when you’re lost and lonely

And I can quote Dawson’s Creek

to you

and say that all roads

lead back to me

Or I can quote Friends

and tell you that

you and I

is never off the table

But all I really know for certain

is the feeling in my bones

and in my stomach

when I look into your eyes

And the longing

and torture

whenever I have to say

Goodbye

So I play the fool

the drunken idiot that you left behind

because it is easier

to convince myself that I am not good enough

Than it is

to put myself out there

and offer you everything that I have

and still come up short

But none of this really matters

This is just a shitty poem

and these are just words

Perfunctory and hollow

The only thing that really matters

is action

The things that we do

Not the words that we say

So this is it

No more words

No more waiting

No more stolen kisses on drunken nights

I am not going to fall apart

because I have been there

and done that

and I have the tattoo on my arm to prove it

-Martin Appleby