“Love you” Doesn’t Count (A poem)

Cover of Jermaine’s upcoming collection of poetry “Love you” Doesn’t Count

You used to breathe “I love you”
between my lips
in the morning, just before
I faced the world

But somewhere between raised voices
and folded arms,
the “I” faded from your love,
until all that was left
were two words
that say just enough
to say the opposite

because “Love you”

doesn’t count

©️2025 by Jermaine Reed, MFA

Read some of the other poems featured in this collection here on the Short Stories and Poems section.

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