Promises for Rent

You held me like you meant it.
When you said 'forever,' you made my heart sing.

You clung on to me like I was something special,
as if I meant as much to you as you were to me,
like you were as sure as the normally up-turned corners of your lips now turned down with seriousness and determination when you told me that you'd jump off a cliff for me.

For a moment, and for a year too long, I actually believed that you were for real, that you would never give up on me and on us.

Who knew I was living on rented promises: real and almost tangible ... only for the allotted time.

False promises ... take them all back.