Driven Away

If I could go back,

To that tarnished moment,

Those hurtful words I'd retract—

And not have chosen to foment,

Anger without merit,

For lack of reciprocation;

I wouldn't have been bombastic,

Ultimately becoming someone whose

Own reflection he's grown to resent...

Like the portrait that housed Dorian's soul,

So, too, does the mirror,

Reveal that a soulless man can be both alive and cold—

Unfeeling, devoid of character—

I've said and done things I didn't think I was able,

To, and now I lay it all upon crimson altar,

Forever abdicating this destructive role—

Still, I know..., you deserve better.

I called you a horrible name—

Without second thought,

I set up my friend to take the blame,

Thinking I wouldn't get caught—

But I wasn't thinking; if I'd used my brain,

And not given free rein to my heart,

I'd never have gone against the grain,

Completely tearing our friendship apart.

If, then, it's really over,

Out of deference, I must speak what's true...

With or without the cape, you're still super—

You could change the world if you wanted to—

Even the words in red augur,

Because of what He did, so, too, can you—

Never acquiesce to the will of others;

Forever reserve your right to choose.

Please accept my apology,

And if you can't forget,

Say you'll forgive me for bartering love for enmity—

Call me what you will—I can take it...

Emasculate me to the compound of plastic,

I had no right to get angry,

Over a love you couldn't requite;

But I've driven you away,

Wishing now I hadn't...

This is my onus—

My latest blunder,

And I've no one to blame for this,

But half the man in the mirror;

Indeed the wind will be more brisk,

The nights ahead of fall and winter—

Moving on will prove itself hard, for I'll miss,

Dearly having you in my corner...

Yet... sometimes what hurts most is for the best—

For I don't deserve you, and you deserve better.

- Kevin B. Waring