‘I never meant to ignore your text,’ you say
and I shrug it off like it didn’t bother me
because you said you were too busy
and I said ‘oh, I’m a bad texter anyway.’

Because that’s what everyone says.

‘I never meant you to lead you on,’ you say
and I pretend like you didn’t,
like it all meant nothing to me too
and I smile and say ‘of course we can be friends.’

Because that’s what everyone says.

‘I never meant for this to happen,’ you say
but it’s just bad timing
and I pretend like timing is a valid reason
and tell you ‘timing makes all the difference.’

Because that’s what everyone says.

‘I never meant to let you go,’ you say
but I wasn’t ready to give you what you deserve
and I act like I believe you
and say ‘I wasn’t ready either.’

Because that’s what everyone says.

‘I never meant to hurt you,’ you say
but I didn’t know how to love you
and I look at you like you never broke me
and say ‘Oh well, I’ve moved on.’

Because that’s what everyone says.

Rania Naim is a poet and author of the new book All The Words I Should Have Said, available here.