Linguistic Jell-O

You might have wanted
A simple yes or no
Answer to your question,
But that was not to be.
He invariably responded
With a third alternative,
Neither yes or no,
But maybe.
If pushed to decide,
He might give you
A definite maybe,
But that was as committed
As he was willing to be.
He would vary his response
Every now and then,
Occasionally gracing you
With “possibly!”
Or if he felt
Particularly adventuresome,
“I suppose!”
But it didn’t get
Much better than that.
Verbal exactitude
Was simply not
In his nature.