Ari Eastman

Your heart is not made of glass. It doesn’t break just because it hurts. It’s not beyond repair just because it feels a little bruised.

men who left because their masculinity felt threatened while waiting in your shadow never deserved to bask in your glow.

they told me, you know.
people talk and cities
do not keep secrets
for very long.

Being an adult is wanting to run up to anyone who looks nice and saying, “Want to be my friend?” but knowing you probably shouldn’t.

everyone is happy and there’s the exact right amount of groceries and you remember a recipe you saved online that would fit perfectly with the ingredients on hand.

There are hands that do not belong to me and I miss them
more than I’m supposed to.

To say Olivia Gatwood is a powerhouse of a poet still somehow feels like an undersell.

I’M SCREAMING!!!!!!!!

Would you be comfortable if I said the names of previous lovers in bed instead? Because if you’re okay with it, maybe I could make this work.

You got SUPER territorial if your parent was paying attention to another child.

It keeps me up at night
when I think of how my dad
never got to meet you.

It gets hard. You pretend it doesn’t because you’re not supposed to still be affected by strangers who think you suck.

A girl in the hallway says
I should try smiling a little more.
Maybe it would help.

Were you so in love that my flaws become inconsequential? Sometimes, I beat myself up at night picking apart all the areas I’m afraid you’d notice aren’t as aesthetically pleasing as they once were.

I was in love with you long before I was allowed to admit it.

Drank Fireball.

The diet is no joke. After she told me the foods I couldn’t eat, I gulped a little and asked, “So, um, what’s left?”

Maybe there’s a reason she’s more comfortable being alone. A reason she’s purposefully choosing solitude. A reason she’d rather hold her pillow than a person. A reason going home to what she’s expecting feels safer.