by Patrick Johns
This is the last time I go through these photos
Before I delete them all from my phone
From the first selfie we took outside that bar
To the last weekend we spent at your home
Here’s one we took together on the bus
As we traveled five hours to France
You had to make me come to your house
To ask your parents’ permission to take you out
And these memories
I’ll take with me
For the rest of my life
They may be erased
From my phone
But they’ll remain with me forever
This one’s from the time we woke up late
And traveled to the beach for the day
We didn’t know it was going to be a nude beach
After an hour we had enough, we had to leave
So we hiked along the cliffs to somewhere new
Made love in a field with incredible views
We stopped at a beach to watch the sunset
I knew this would be a day I would never forget
And these memories
I’ll take with me
For the rest of my life
They may be erased
From my phone
But they’ll remain with me forever
My finger hovers over the button to delete it all
But my heart is stinging as my stomach falls
I don’t think I have the strength in me to forget you
My finger’s shaking, mind’s racing, I can’t forget you
But I finally submit, giving in to the pain
I erased it all, including your name
Now I feel an emptiness inside my chest
An emptiness I know I will never forget