I Chose You

By Rita H. Chen

 

I was once in love,
But then I met you.

You stole my heart with your clever words,
You amazed me with your honesty,
You astounded me with the way others listened to you.
I found myself falling in love with you.

But later I realized
Your words were empty full of arrogance and self-love,
Your honesty sliced through my inner being like a knife,
Leaving nothing but jagged pieces of me behind,
You toyed with my mind,
And the minds of others,
Showing me first your good side,
Then turning and showing me your despicable streak,
So I always strove to please you,
in hopes of winning the favourable part of you.

I found that in life
I always have to make choices and decisions,
I have to choose between a best and a second best.
That is what I did,
I chose a second best,

I chose you.

 

Rita’s Musings: If this poem feels a little childishly written, it’s because I wrote this back in 1995 when I was just a young’un. At the time, I actually received my high school’s literary award for this poem. Nowadays, I’ve put this poem up here for no other reason but nostalgia. 🙂