The Stranger With Your Name

May 22nd, 2025

I saw your name on the profile
In October’s midnight hours
Then the pictures weren’t of you
But your name still had powers
I decided to swipe right
I saw no harm in that decision
Then I froze in place
Like my heart took an incision
It wasn’t because it matched
We did but I didn’t engage
It’s what I couldn’t believe
On the very next page
There you were
Your photos and name
Even after two years
Your profile still looked the same
I sat in my feelings
The emotional weight
From your name to you
Like some twist of fate
I took another chance
As I slid your photo right
And froze to the statement
That triggered fight or flight
It said it’s a match
Two profiles back to back
Again holding off on messaging
And feeling the draw back
Something new
And something old
Feeling the weight
Of the decision I hold
Looking back at that night 
Now that my heart’s out of danger
Wondering why I never messaged
The other stranger

Australia Guy

October 14th, 2024

I told you it was unlikely we would ever meet
Because you’re a friend that I met online
And with 7,777 miles between us 
Our paths still managed to align

Telling my friends there’s a guy in Australia
And I don’t know what he wants from me
As he messages daily and asks to call
But I tell them I don’t catch feelings so easily

Commenting on each other’s accents
And the information we’d swap
Teaching him there’s more to the USA 
It’s not just gun violence and IHOP

“I’m trying to love you Karissa”
I noticed you forgot to use punctuation
Wondering if this friendship is a good idea
Because we live in different nations

Not sure when I fell but it happened quickly
Even when I know this is unrealistic
Months of friendship before any feelings
And the distance between us is futuristic

Messaging all day with a seventeen hour difference
You get good morning and I get goodnight
I’m subtly leading you to where I want you to be
But there’s still no talk of flights

Wondering what it would be like to hug you
Wondering what it would be like to hold your hand
We live on different sides of the world
But these things in life can’t be planned

I like when you make it known when you wake up
That I was the first thing you thought of
As we’re teetering on the line
Of something that feels like love

I want to give you more than just my dreary Mondays
And I don’t often gamble my heart in an investment
But then my apprehensive mind
Has turned this into an assessment

Because I’m scared to fall in love with you
But I’m scared to fall in love with anyone else 
In a sea of strangers I’m the one that you saw
And you liked me just as myself

When I’m holding my phone like it’s your face
You say you’d want me as a wife
Talking with you about the loss of my life
Could I have found the love of my life

I went to sleep telling myself I love you
Before I woke up to your message
It takes a lot to make me cry
But trusting you did it

You wanted to feel good about yourself
But you did it at my expense
Trying to justify your actions 
How did you not think I’d take offense

I was falling but I think I’ve stopped 
Once again I broke down to cry
You looked at the message from me
And decided you wouldn’t reply

I waited all day for a message from you
I was taken over by my anxiety
I think you realized you won me over
And now you don’t seem to want me

I know I’m losing you now
I shouldn’t be surprised
Because when you say “love you”
You started leaving out the word “I”

You only message when you’re bored at work
And suddenly you don’t like to talk on the phone
I think I’m being played and I can’t prove it
But you’ve left me feeling alone

You’ve been so busy recently 
And I was waiting patiently
But I can’t wait forever
For someone who doesn’t want me

I have the potential to fall in love with anyone
That’s something that I’ve always hated
Because I fall for the ones who don’t choose me
It’s never failed with everyone I’ve dated

I’m no longer willing to beg people how to treat me
Your actions brought this causation
I loved you and you loved the idea of me
But I don’t want to be loved out of obligation

You never wanted my dreary Mondays
You don’t even want my thoughts
I’ve tried to talk about my feelings
And you’ve told me to stop

I wanted you to read my poems
I wanted you to want to call
You say too much damage has been done
So maybe we should end this once and for all

It’s not okay but that’s what I’ll say
And this ending is bittersweet
Now my lips will never know your kiss
But I told you it was unlikely we would ever meet



Note: If you ever read this, I hope you understand it came from a place of love, not anger. I wanted this to work. But in the end, I had to choose myself.

Retrograde (What Happens Now?)

April 9th, 2024

Do you know the effects of Mercury
Because I’ve been thinking lately
About what you might be thinking lately
But you never wanted to date me
I think you’re missing me
I feel your energy
Not sure if I’m being naive
Because maybe it’s just me
I told you I was depressed
Is that why you decided to crush me
Filled my heart with breadcrumbs
And let me live in a fantasy
The vibes that you gave
Were always hot and cold
You were the perfect mixture
Of neutral
I remember what we were both wearing
When I saw you last
Then you tossed me out
Like the rest of your trash
I always tried to wear red for you
Like the Megan and Liz song
You’re so bad for me
The lyrics were never wrong
I remember when I filled up my ice box for you
The small gestures that you never knew
Because I remembered you liked extra
I did more for you than you would ever do
The memories tucked away in crevices of my brain
That container of strawberries that you ate
Things I don’t know why but I remember
I guess that’s just how I operate
All this stress for a guy who couldn’t spell “I’d”
Where do you see an ‘e’ in I would?
Yet I wonder if you still think about surprising me
When you drive through my neighborhood
Do you still think of me when you’re watching TV
And you see Jenna Ortega or Anya Taylor-Joy
Because I still think of how I gave you my heart
And all you gave me back was a decoy
I watched a scary movie with another guy recently
But it didn’t feel the same
Trying to find a similar connection
But one who wants to share their last name
When all you’ve known is leaving
What if you chose to stay
12 messages in 11 days
Like a prison sentence they replay
The last message you sent me
Said you won’t be available for a long while
And I knew that wasn’t true
Because you’re updating your dating profile
You’re not good for my mental health
Still I created an idea of who you were
You’re probably seeing someone else now
And whispering to her that you miss her
You kept coming back to me
But then you’d change your mind
It was always your decision
And I still got declined
I have a lump in my throat
Wondering how someone could ask so much of me
Then turn away because it wasn’t enough
These thoughts I can’t grasp tangibly
And I’m over here wondering
That maybe it is true
Guys want to feel needed
But I never needed you
What if I made you up
Why am I still thinking about this stuff
You hurt me in ways you never knew
I know an apology will never be enough
You were the wrong person
It was the wrong time
So why do I still long
That one day you will be mine
You played me like an instrument
But you’re not a musician
I think I’ve finally accepted your answer
Because “nothing” will come to fruition