No matter what we’re called

we will be just the same

and yet I’m always asking -

just what is in a name?


Don’t want to call you boyfriend

(though we never got that far)

we’d act the same no matter what

no matter who we are

I promise I’m trying my best not to back out

and I promise and I promise and I know that you’re okay with me being unsure  

but it feels like I’m just a lost cause waiting for the inevitable day when you see

that this is it

this is all you’re getting from me

it feels like a lie though from day one you knew what you were getting into

and I tell you all the time that I can’t even figure myself out

and you offer to help me solve the puzzle but I don’t understand why you’re so willing

when I give you no guarantees

I guess you must love me

not weighing up the pros and cons like I do

you love unconditionally

like you're supposed to

and I can't help feeling like I'm not holding up my end of the deal

and even though I do all I can

I don’t think I'll ever feel the way that you do  

is that enough for you?

but darling, just
what is love
but another word
for the feeling
i could never have?

they say love is the driving force of the artist

the words that spill upon the page are inspired by the butterflies in their belly

the stars in their eyes are caused by a glance at their lover

that must be why my pages are empty

it matches the contents of my heart

for i do not feel the appeal of being one with another

and alone i will always be

not curious of commitment

but needing it only to conform

I don't always feel attraction
But when I do
It's thanks to you

It is everywhere
On the radio
In my friends' eyes
Right in front of me

It is part of life
The happy ending to every book
Part of life’s plan
What makes us human

It is a milestone
The progression of dating
Then marriage
And children

It is society’s solution
The one for sadness
For mental illness
To keep going when the world falls apart

It is why I am different
Unable to relate to the subplots in movies
To my friends' love lives
And will not ever have the option to

It is what the world will not understand
Why it calls me heartless
Unloving
And vile

It is inescapable
In the name of who I am
The name of my community
Aromantic

It is the reason I feel alienated
Because love is love
But I cannot love
At least not in the way the world wants me too

Let's love each other like children
lazing on the couch, raiding the kitchen
Eggos and Saturday morning cartoons
Don't need a marriage or a honeymoon

Cherry blow pops and dollar stores
playing with plastic dinosaurs
Cause we're of a different breed
This platonic love is all we need