The Sweetest Kind of Poison

by Katie Wismer

because there are oceans inside of me and I’ve spent my whole life learning to tread water

your words used to make me melt now all they do is burn

if he leaves you with silence for 2 weeks and then comes crawling back it isn’t because he misses you it’s because he couldn’t find anyone else

I deserve better but I prefer you

I just want someone to want me even after they see the shadows even if we’re not naked even if sometimes I don’t know how to want myself

you are not giving up by leaving you are choosing to love yourself more than he ever could

it took me a long time to realize by thinking of you as everything I was allowing myself to be nothing

if I could go back and give advice to my 16-year-old self I’d tell her to wear a little less eyeliner a little more lipstick and tell that boy to go fuck himself