7/7 I believed you

I thought the world of you.

The world you know so well.

I thought it made you deep,

but how could you be without roots.

My guard was up. 

I’ve seen this before.

“I am not interested in inauthentic love”

As I slowly let you in.

“You could be the one”, you said

Too soon,

too quickly,

Rehearsed. 

But back when the sun was warm

and the nights were long,

You tasted the wine on my lips,

and went straight to her bed.

The one, you say?

At arm’s length I stayed hopeful.

Patient. Understanding.

Abiding by rules you never lived by.

Questioning my reality, 

to keep yours intact.

Pristine, precise, perfect.

I had to be.

Any misstep was a liability,

protected only when it was yours.

You looked at my skin.

At the colours, the stories,

the history it bore,

and weighted my worth.

“Decisions have consequences”,

you said,

while my body paid the price

for decisions you made.

“It’s not you”, you said,

noble.

“It is just my culture.”

As your cultures festered.

Exclusion rebranded elegantly.

You called it values, on their behalf.

That your friends reflect who you are.

Do they know?

I thought the world of you.

I really did.

I saw a good man in you.

That is, until I knew you.