Salutation Is Not Love Poem by Henrietta Ezegbe

Salutation Is Not Love
Nostalgia is a storyteller,
and she lies beautifully,
softening the edges of moments
that were never as gentle as she claims.

She whispers of late hours and familiar rituals,
simple gestures that once felt like devotion,
though they were only threads of comfort
woven into a pattern that never held its shape.

Consistency is not commitment.
A greeting repeated each night
cannot replace the steady weight
of a heart that chooses to stay.

For a long time, someone mistook presence
for promise, attention for intention,
and the smallest signs of care
for something lasting.
But endings arrive quietly.

They come when the old pull loses force,
when the cycle stops calling,
when the silence no longer feels sharp.
And in that stillness, a truth settles:
a person can outgrow a pattern
that once felt impossible to escape.

This is how a chapter closes—
not with a dramatic parting,
but with a calm step forward,
and the recognition that letting go
is sometimes the purest form of love
one can offer themselves.