All the Shades of Purple

By Poonam Gaikwad

I saw my purple in his eyes —

a softness that stitched itself

into the corners of my fatigue.

Like a stricken bird that never reached the south,

like asymptote lines:

so close

yet never meant to meet.

He was toxic.

But God — he was beautiful.

The kind of beautiful that lingers.

That bruises.

That doesn’t fade.

It wasn’t grand gestures.

It was the small things

that pulled me in.

But pride spoke louder than love.

Ego louder than forgiveness.

And we lost.

No heroes. No villains.

Just two people

who let go too early

and held on too long.

Maybe…

if we had known which ending was forever,

we would’ve stayed a little longer.

Every glance, I’d still cherish —

those round, black eyes

with that childlike twinkle

that never stopped catching mine.

I hold close the shades of purple

he brought into my life.

By Poonam Gaikwad