My dad once told me that our hearts are like machines.

He told me that the way to slow our heart rate down is to do it slowly,
That we had to do it in levels,
Push the buttons one at a time.
To pull the levers slowly,
For it to function properly again.
For it to work normally.

With those information in mind, I thought it worked with feelings, too.
That in order to stop myself from liking you, I have to do it slowly.
Baby steps.

So I tried to find reasons,
reasons that I could use to stop my feelings for you.
So I stared at you.
I stared to try and find your every flaw.

I studied your every move,
and tried to find something I don't like about them.
But as I continued to stare at you,
I didn't even realize that I was starting to learn you,
To read you like a book.
I found myself wanting to read every page.
I wanted to know more about you.

I found every move that I don't like,
I found all your flaws.
But, I also found myself loving every single one of them.
You became my favorite book.

I pushed every button in my heart to stop it from going haywire when in your presence.
I pulled every lever slowly to make my heart beat normally again.

But nothing worked.
My heart still beats a hundred and twenty four miles at the mere sight of you.

My feelings never faded.
I even began to like you more.
I thought that pushing the buttons and pulling the levers and would make my heart beat normal again.
But it didn't.

Turns out humans are far from machines.

-F.T. 12/22/16