Have Some Self Respect

I once looked for love
Believing it to be a tangible form
That I could grasp.
I tried too hard,
Gripped too tight,
And it pulped and spilled.
I lost it all.
Love can not be ripened by hand.

He waxed and waned with me.
One moment candied words
And later terse responses.
My mistake the same:
Drawn in,
Glazing him with the gloss of my ideal.
It would not stick
And then he cheated.

He proffered his regrets
And being naive
And needy
I took them as truthful sentiments.

Have some self respect.
You are not the first person he has cast aside.
A string of people line the dance-floor
Exchanging hugs and air kisses.
They are his string
And when you are with him you join the line.
Have some self respect.
Take off the blinkers
And remove him from this elevation.
Your elevation.
Start to find your life again:
Those friends which became all so insignificant
Because of your shameless devotion.

Have some self respect.