The poem “Pushpin Holes” is about a girl who is head over heels in love with a boy. She put notes he wrote to her before they started dating on a corkboard. She later added pictures, movie tickets, and poems as their relationship evolved. After the relationship ended, she took everything down. It felt like her heart was a filled with as many holes from the relationship’s end as the corkboard that held all the memories.

I can personally relate to this poem. I know the pain of a breakup after so much time together. It feels like something is constricting one’s breath and trying to crush the ribcage; the heart feels like it is riddled with holes left behind when the love leaves. What is important is the ability to move on. My previous boyfriends have evolved into my best friends. As the saying goes, it is better to love and lost than never to have loved at all.