This poem about heartbreak has gone viral, but the poet’s response will restore your faith in love

*wipes away tears*

A 22-year-old poet from Ohio known only as Taylor has written a poem about how painful love can be, and the internet is going crazy for it.

The untitled poem, which was posted to her tumblr under her username acutelesbian, addresses Taylor’s biggest fear which discovered during a class called Relationships For Life, when she was 17 - having someone fall out of love with her.

She writes:

'A lot of people ask me what my biggest fear is, or what scares me most. And I know they expect an answer like heights, or closed spaces, or people dressed like animals, but how do I tell them that when I was 17 I took a class called Relationships For Life and I learned that most people fall out of love for the same reasons they fell in it. That their lover’s once endearing stubbornness has now become refusal to compromise and their one track mind is now immaturity and their bad habits that you once adored is now money down the drain. Their spontaneity becomes reckless and irresponsible and their feet up on your dash is no longer sexy, just another distraction in your busy life.

'Nothing saddens and scares me like the thought that I can become ugly to someone who once thought all the stars were in my eyes.'

The heartbreaking poem attracted more than a million on tumblr, and after being shared on Imgur was viewed more than 230,000 times.

Overwhelmed by the response, Taylor posted about her own feelings towards the piece and how she really feels a lot more positive about relationships.

‘I was extremely bitter and sad when I wrote this and I left out the most important and beautiful part of the class,’ Taylor wrote.

She goes on to explain that after asking if love was a ‘feeling or a choice’, her teacher told the class to interview a dozen adults who were or had been married, and ask them why the marriages lasted or failed.

She also asked if love was an emotion or a choice, and everyone answered that love was a choice, ‘a conscious commitment,’ and that ‘feelings were always changing and you cannot build something that will last on such a shaky foundation.’

Taylor adds: ‘Ever since that class I have never looked in relationships in the same way again. I understood why arranged marriages worked. I discovered the difference between feelings and commitments. I’ve never gone for the person who makes my heart flutter or my head spin. I’ve chosen people who were committed to choosing me, dedicated to finding something to adore even on the ugliest days.’

And her conclusion is one of hope.

‘I no longer fear the day someone who I swore was the universe can no longer see stars in my eyes, as long as they still chose to look for them until they find them again.’