LET ME NAME THE WAY$

Let Me Name the Ways in Which You Didn’t Deserve My Love

I avoided you, I kept my space,
I read the truth upon your face.
But still I spoke, I said hello,
and that was my first fall, I know. ✦

You stood surrounded, men drew wide,
you walked through them in holy stride.
I heard you praise my enemy’s name,
a challenge I took, a losing game.

You showed me care I’d never known,
a warmth that felt like it was home.
But when I followed where you led,
your plans were sharper than you said. ☾

I left your room, ashamed, exposed,
the crowd aware, the secret closed.
Their watching eyes, the whispered sting,
my steps revealed the mark you bring.

You kept me waiting, day and night,
a year of maybes proved me right.
I let you hold me as a friend,
though love was never your intend. ✦

I read our texts, I know it’s true,
that all the lies direct to you.
Every path, a crooked line,
pointing where you cross with mine. ✧

You ghosted me when truth was near,
I saw I never mattered, clear.
You lingered still in shadow’s call,
with diabolical watch, that’s all.

I’d tell myself: trust first, not late,
your gut reveals a truer fate ⚸
For beauty lies, and men deceive,
that’s not the love I will believe.