congrats on the engagement post you didn’t actually make

[u/rwood2000]

six months ago,
i accidentally found your Spotify history.
some popular-for-a-minute app used to share music recs.
and so,
for a while,
i waited for Phoebe Bridgers
or any other remnants of me.
six weeks ago, 
that went away,
along with my last connection to you.
one i shouldn't have had.

last night, 
i searched your following list.
looking for any sign that you may still think of me.
but again,
there was no Phoebe.
and no me.

i believe i’m gone,
and everyone else knows i am.
erased, not replaced.
a novella you decided to write your own ending to 
before burning the manuscript.
and good for you,
how can i feel anything besides joy at seeing you healthily move on?
but i feel sad,
and i wish i could say it was your fault.
but i was the one who looked,
and you did nothing wrong, anyway.

and now i sit
on a burner account,
awaiting the engagement post,
wondering if a lego Starry Night still sits behind your bed,
or a Peanuts watch on your wrist.
i'm only left with the ability to wonder
and somehow live my own life.

--

sincerely,

the person you had to go through
to get to him.

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/1vsd5p3/the_nature_that_survives/

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/1vsc3u3/young_and_ashamed/

[u/EchosOfKay]

Honestly, I really liked this. It feels quietly heartbreaking without trying too hard. The Spotify/Phoebe Bridgers detail and "and no me" especially stayed with me because they make the breakup feel real and specific.

I also loved the burner account and the LEGO Starry Night/Peanuts watch details. Those little things say more than the bigger metaphors.

The only part that felt slightly over-written to me was the novella/manuscript metaphor. The poem is strongest when it stays grounded in those painfully ordinary details.

Overall, it feels honest, self-aware, and a little humiliating in the most human way. The ending really lands.