"The Grey Girls"

For the ones who came warm and left cold.

you smiled like sunrise

but spoke like sunset.

a little warmth,

then the cold crept in.

you called me "bro",

then reminded me,

"we're not of the flesh."

and i respected that —

even as you held my spirit hostage

with half-affections.

i hated that.

i wasn't chasing your body.

i wasn't after cheap love.

i came with depth.

you stayed in the shallow;

long enough to stir my soul,

but never long enough to steady it.

i thought we were building something.

you thought i was too kind to cut off.

and you were right —

until now.

because i've learned:

not all warm hands are safe.

not all "dears" are devoted.

not all "bros" are seen as men.

so, this is for all of you;

the grey girls.

the half-yes, half-no.

the "maybe-if"

and the "almost-loved-me" kind.

i'm done interpreting your silence

like scripture.

done writing novels

about texts that never came.

done chasing closure

in conversations meant to be shallow.

from now on,

if you're not fully present,

i'll be fully gone.

let that be your answer

to the man i used to be.

he deserved full colour,

not fifty shades of fog.

Wabwire Elias