She was lovely. . . .until. . . .

She was lovely
beautiful
beyond compare
until
she began
to find fault
with me.

I was no longer
the “Perfect lover”
that she
imagined
I was.
But it was
her thinking
that made me
so.

It was not me
but what
she wanted
me to be.

Once she started
looking at me critically
it seemed
she
could
not
stop.

She
changed.

From being
“the perfect lover”
I became instead
the man who
could not
do anything right.

I began to look
for ways to avoid her.

Do you blame me
for not wanting
to hang out with
someone
convinced
I would never,
ever
be good enough
for her?

Bye, bye.

–Paschal,
written on behalf of some nonverbal male friends
who never did understand what happened. What they are sure
of, and the only thing they are really sure of, is that they will never
give their heart to another woman. Sad? Surely.

The gender games people play today are very intense and hard.
It is a different time and place and culture than what it used to be..
Most young people judge the surface quickly, and never give anyone a second
chance. It is everyone look out for #1. Look to your own needs.
Do it to others before they can do it to you.
My therapist friends who are still doing therapy, God bless
em all, tell me there’s no longer self-examination,
simply self-justification.