it was never love, just imbalance

i used to think loving you too much was romantic. now i see— it was me giving away parts of myself like clearance items, hoping you’d find value in something i had already discounted. you thought my devotion was desperation. you watched me fold into smaller versions of myself just to fit your world. and when i broke, you called me dramatic. but i wasn’t asking for too much. i was just asking you to notice that i gave everything and asked for almost nothing. now, i look at who i was with you— and i forgive her. she didn’t know love isn’t supposed to humiliate.