The Angel I Loved

I still remember how often I’d deny The feelings I held for you, Though everyone saw them— Even you. How I’d bristle when they mocked your name, Shielding someone I could never claim. I’d sit with you, your head on my shoulder, Cursing the boy who dared make you cry, For that’s all I was good for— Never enough to make your spirit fly. I’d race up that hill, poem in hand, A confession penned in devotion's strand, Only to find you, eyes aglow, Falling for yet another shadow. How often I feigned joy when you’d moved on, My heart crumbling as I played along. I’d sit and summon resentment's hue, To craft a lie I could hold as true— That I deserved better than loving you. But how could I hate you? The only person I knew, Who turned my pain into soft starlight.