we project our
hopes and fears
onto people
we don’t
even know
you can find out
that you don’t
really know someone
even after many years
of living with them
and even as you’re
learning
that person,
they’re changing
all the time
and so are you
safety is an illusion
you are not safe
nor am I
what look like
green flags, today
seem bright red,
tomorrow
the thing that, today,
made you recoil,
because you
thought you saw
scarlet
you come,
later on,
to appreciate
as being
a stable,
comforting
emerald green
safety?
thefuckisthat?
I’ve never
been safe
not once
not even when
I was sure
I’d found
safety
you aren’t
safe
not so long
as you’re
dealing with
people
you roll the dice,
like everybody else
the only sensible
approach to
dealing with people
is to assume
that it’s
not going to
work out
but to behave
as if it will
work out
until they give you
some kind of
undeniable reason
to walk away
not some
superficial “ick,”
a childish picayune,
but a genuine
dealbreaker
and if that
never happens,
well then,
lucky you
nice work,
if you can get it
me?
I have
gone completely
into hiding,
many times,
often for years
at a stretch
I crawl out of my cave
only if something
seems particularly
interesting
I stopped looking for
greens and reds
because looking for them
never had any actual
bearing on the outcome
not once
now, I just assume
90% of the women
I encounter
are not going to be
worth the time of day
experience has taught me that
and the remaining 10%?
well, I won’t know
until I find out
the hard way
never learning
from your mistakes
is dumb
but being
too cautious
about the possibility
of making
some mistakes
that you might
learn from
is boring ⠀
and lonely
green and red
aren’t really
the best colors,
anyway
I’m more partial to
black and purple,
blues and grays
you are
not safe
nor am I
Vaya con Dios, amigo
©2026 Kevin Trent Boswell
