He still leaves goose bumps

On every inch of my skin

Sending shivers down my spine

And shaky sighs barely able to escape my lips

 

When you meet a boy like this

Don’t let him show you his favorite song

Because when he’s gone,

It will be stuck in your head

And under your fingertips

And I can’t listen to it without choking

 

Don’t let him touch you all over

No matter how much you want to feel him against you

Leave a few spots untouched

Because now that I’m sleeping alone again

Every part of me is stinging with the remaining burn of his mouth

 

Don’t let him hurt you so deeply

That your lungs cease to function

And you’re left with broken ribs

 

Every sunset is now poisoned

And I can’t look at the sky

Without swallowing a mouthful of him

 

Don’t mistake wasps for butterflies

That flutter in your stomach isn’t love

It’s pain trying to escape

The shaking of your hands is a foreshadowing

Of the way your lips will tremble

When you try not to cry after he’s gone

 

Just because he says he loves you

Doesn’t mean he’s going to stay

At least not for as long as you thought

Not for as long as you’d hoped

 

It’s okay to delete his number

After you see him kiss a pretty girl

That he met when he was drunk

It’s okay to leave when he hurts you

You don’t have to keep falling into him

 

He calls me beautiful

And I have to remind myself

That I was beautiful before him, too

And I can be beautiful again

 

After you kiss him

Remember to wash your mouth out right away

So that he doesn’t burn into your tongue

And you’re not left with the taste of him on your lips

 

He will cuddle with you in bed

And hold your hand when he’s driving

He will grab your waist

And whisper in your ear with a smile

 

But don’t forget that months later

When you drink text him that you miss him

He won’t respond

And you’ll be left grabbing at your bones

Trying to hold yourself together