"We ain’t about that life."
Kaitlyn McCabe 8/30/2025
I didn’t hate you.
You weren’t a bad person.
You didn’t mean to do it.
You don’t understand anything.
Neither do I.
You left me hanging,
let me make a fool of myself,
again and again.
I was hurt.
I told you I get misjudged,
good and bad assumptions made,
my intentions mistaken by others.
I tried, but it wasn’t the right time for my words.
Your words never came and
that’s the part I can’t lie to myself about.
We are brilliantly and painfully similar,
but you would never know, because
we rarely talked about real things,
our upbringing,
how our children are like us yet amazing,
the workings of our brains.
You can’t read me,
because I can’t read you.
When I open the box
will I get a scorpion,
an ice giant,
a gummy bear?
Stung all my life,
I’m immune to most,
but I wasn’t to you.
I’ll leave the 5 star review
I always pinned to your name,
but I’m no longer taking interviews.
I’m purging the final reminders.
For my sake,
please erase me, too.
-Melissa Donley