Through the years I’ve seen either my friends or people I know be in toxic relationships and pass that off as “love”. At times it’s difficult to see someone for who they truly are. You become blinded as to their shortcomings and compensate their behaviour as jealousy or passion. This poem is about the misconception we have of what love is, and how we could not be more wrong.
How To Love
That is not how you love
Through a text sent as an afterthought
Forgotten until it is brought up
Through ignoring messages
With excuses of a busy schedule
That is not how you love
Through a tight-lipped smile
Spreading across blood-red lips
A feeling of annoyance
Pooling in your stomach
That is not how you love
By commenting on a picture
Rather than saying a compliment to her face
To assume a like is worth much more
Than a genuine expression
That is not how you love
To be uncontrollably possessive and jealous
Not knowing that before anything else
She is her own person.
That is not how you love
To emotionally abuse
By attacking the person she is
And expecting an apology to suffice
That is not how you love
To offer roses with hidden thorns
As a means of compensation
For the baggage you’ve piled on her
That is not how you love
To hold in captivity
Her emotions
With false promises and dreams of the future
That.
Is.
Not.
How.
You.
Love.
To love is to
Give her time
If even a minute out of your busy day
To love is to
Smile only when you truly mean it
To tell her when something is wrong
Knowing she will understand
To love is to
Have faith in her loyalty
To trust her not to hurt you
Understanding that before she is even in part
Yours
She is her own person
To love is to
acknowledge a mistake
To apologize sincerely
And not depend on a materialistic gift to suffice
To love is to
Care
And if you’re unhappy
To leave.
M.A // A poem from a book I’ll never write.
