If I fall in a forest,
And no one is around to hear,
My graceless collision with the ground,
Did I make a sound?

I would still have the bruises,
Or whatever the tree equivalent is,
And my bark may still sting,
But would the echo ring?

If I fall in a forest,
And no one likes my post,
My strategically formulated caption,
Why does everything feel like it's caving in?

I would still have the moment,
Where I took the picture,
Locked in my memory,
Or maybe not–
I chose instead to exist as pixels.

You remind me of color.

Perhaps it's because,
Of your love for it,
And all the beauty,
It creates.

Or maybe it's because,
When I am around you,
Just like with colors,
The world seems so vibrant.

But I suspect the reason lies,
Within the fact that you,
Like color,
Are not what you claim to be.

Light's wavelengths come down,
And you absorb them,
Reflecting back everything else.

So you see,
You are not red.
You are everything but that.

And if you are color,
I am the cones in our eyes,
Interpreting you as what you reflect,
You are to the world.
Believing your facade to be true.

It's not you that makes my heart flutter,
Inspired and striving,
To be like the butterflies in my stomach.

It's the chemicals and hormones,
That enter my bloodstream,
When you're around.

My smiles not for you,
It's my body's natural reaction,
To the surplus of dopamine and oxytocin.

So don't let it get to your head,
That waking up to a text from you,
Distracts me for the rest of the day.

And don't pity me,
That I still cry when I think about how,
You chose her,
Over me.