manuel of la brea

69

You were lying to yourself
every time you mention her name
because I turned up your charm.
You could be seductive,
charismatic, and funny
in front of me,
and I could see your
increased interest
in spending time
with me.

You were lying to her
when you got comfortable
messaging me frequently,
slowly switched to
calling every midnight.
And you opened up
about your day
playing with Hunter
and initiated
all of your idealistic
(sometimes gay)
dreams.

You were lying to me
every time
you made me believe
she owns your heart
when you didn’t care
about her ideas and values
but me,
seeing my assertiveness
as confidence and ambition,
finding reasons to admire
my intelligence,
my beauty,
my grace,
and my sense of humor.