small cruelties
are no crime
there's nothing to report
there was no violence
was no blood
i was just unsure

there was no violence
was no breach
just uncertainty
and warmth

his warmth
of feeling
urgent, close
insistent (call it passion)
he was so sure
as he explained
the demands of love, its fashions

my uncertainty:
of him
his warmth–
(it felt like anger)
would i have stayed
in absence of threat?
he left.
should it still matter?

​