When The Only Thing You Want From Someone Is For Them To Stay

By

i have tried
to hold onto things
that were never
meant to last, tried
to hold onto people
who have spent their
lives fleeting through
moments while collecting
sunsets on their
tongues that so easily
utter goodbyes.
i have tried
to love them
too much, you know,
because i thought
that if i did,
that if i held onto
them tightly
and filled their
gaps and spaces
with everything
that i could give,
with everything
that i could become,
they wouldn’t leave;
they would stay;
they would choose to.
i have always
known that nothing is
ever permanent,
that sooner or later,
things will end
and goodbyes will be said
and still, i haven’t been good
with goodbyes-
they have always
felt heavy on
my tongue and every
syllable felt like daggers
slicing through my skin
until it is nothing but a
canvas full of scars and
bruises from all the goodbyes
hanging on the edges
of my lips.
i have tried so hard
to hold onto
things and people
because
at the end of
the day, all i want is
for them to stay, for them
to realize that
i am enough to
make them want
to stay,
for them to realize that
i am worth
staying for.