Terms and Conditions — Summary

I don't care. Well, that's a lie, It's all I really want. I'm fine. Also a lie, I'm falling apart inside. It's not you, it's me. Don't act like it's true, We both know that old code. I don't want it. But you don't see the glance I steal as we walk away. I read the terms and conditions. No, I didn't, But maybe I should've. Maybe if I had, my pillow would stay dry. Maybe I'd know that good doesn't always win. Maybe I'd know that it will always hurt. Maybe I'd know that life doesn't care. And maybe I'd know that people lie. I lie. You lie. We all lie. That's how we keep ourselves from the truth That no one wants to acknowledge. We think that, Maybe if we ignore it, It will go away. No one wants to hurt. No one wants to cry. But we didn't read the terms and conditions. So now life's full of lies.

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Someone is nursing a breakup, and the speaker is trying to hide how much it hurts. The opening lines set the pattern: "I don't care" and "I'm fine" are each corrected right away as lies. The speaker admits to falling apart inside, to stealing one last glance as they walk away, and to crying into a pillow at night.

The title's "terms and conditions" works as the main image. Nobody reads them before clicking "agree," and the speaker says the same about love and life. If they had read them, they might have known that good doesn't always win, that pain is guaranteed, and that people lie. The poem then widens from one relationship to everyone: "We all lie," mostly to avoid a truth we'd rather not face.

The mood is raw and bitter, but also tired and honest. The short, blunt lines feel like someone confessing, and the final line leaves a quiet, resigned sadness.

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