RED FLAGS (LATE NIGHT VERSION)

…

3 AM.

Phone face down on di nightstand

Can’t sleep.

Can’t even lie to miself no more.

Every shadow in dis room look like yuh.

…

Yeah.

---

Mi see di red flags early, blood red on di ceiling

But mi painted dem white, told miself it was feelings

Like maybe love could outlast di warning

Like maybe she’d heal if mi just kept ignoring

But ignorance is a drug and mi was addicted

Saw di crash coming and mi still didn’t fix it

Pride sitting on mi chest like a cinderblock

Couldn’t say sorry — wouldn’t even knock

On di door of mi own heart, too stubborn to listen

Every argument won was a nail in di coffin

Took yuh presence like oxygen, breathed it like nothing

Like air don’t run out, like yuh’d always be coming

Home to me… but home started feeling like a prison

And mi was di warden and didn’t even listen

---

And di worst part…

Mi never said di tings dat was eating mi alive

Kept it buried in di dark where di silence could hide

And dat silence grew teeth

And dem teeth bit deep

Until dere was nothing left to say

But goodbye

---

I didn’t love yuh right when yuh was here

Now mi lying in di dark and di dark don’t care

Mi gave everything to di wrong side of me

And di right side of me died trying to hold on to yuh

Di biggest regret ain’t dat yuh’re gone…

It’s dat mi had yuh and mi didn’t even know

What mi had

…what mi had…

Yeah…

---

Mi lost miself, mirror don’t recognize mi face

Stopped chasing mi dreams, let dem die in dis place

Friends stopped calling, mi stopped picking up

Pouring all mi soul into a half-empty cup

For somebody who was never gonna be full

Trying to fix somebody who didn’t want repairing

Mi fell in love wid a version dat didn’t exist

Loved di potential, ignored di realness

Stayed too long, yeah, dat’s di part dat eats me

Fear of being alone had mi choosing empty

Choosing a ghost over mi own reflection

Choosing di pain over starting over with direction

Telling miself “it’ll get better, just wait”

But “later” turned to “never” and di love turned to weight

---

And mi still…

Never said di tings dat was eating mi alive

Kept it buried in di dark where di silence could hide

And dat silence grew teeth

And dem teeth bit deep

Until dere was nothing left to say

But goodbye

---

I didn’t love yuh right when yuh was here

Now mi lying in di dark and di dark don’t care

Mi gave everything to di wrong side of me

And di right side of me died trying to hold on to yuh

Di biggest regret ain’t dat yuh’re gone…

It’s dat mi had yuh and mi didn’t even know

What mi had

…what mi had…

Yeah…

---

Listen…

We got too busy, or maybe mi got too numb

Quality time became a thing dat we outrun

Yuh’d be sitting right across from me

Eyes full of everything mi refused to see

And mi was right dere

But mi wasn’t… dere

Body in di room but mi mind was a ghost

And di one ting yuh needed was di one ting mi withheld most

Mi sorry…

Not d