I needed basics:

Respect, compromise, patience, compassion.

Bare necessities to hold what was already crumbling

 

It was wrong to ask for them.

Pleads were met with tongue lashings.

Each attempt to separate thwarted by too quick typing

 

I never spoke a harsh word to her, yet

She could not find others for me.

I asked her, “Why do you want to leave?”

She lied, “Because I love you.”

When a final argument cracked us,

I left damaged.

 

I started seeing a new girl;

She never flung insults or threatened to leave.

I did not let her know I had been hurt until she asked about love.

 

I sat and told her what had happened to me.

I sat and told her why I was scared to say it.

She held me and listened and cried with me.

 

She respected my feelings

She patiently listened to me

She compromised to hear what was painful

She was compassionate towards my past

I asked her, “Why are you crying too?”

She said truly, “Because I love you.”