Poem: Self-Love Is True Love

I want to feel love.

I want to feel love

that doesn’t drive me to drinking

taking shots of anything

to feel like I’m floating

while I’m sinking…

I want to feel love

that rejects fear and jealousy 

to gain security in life

seeking the convenience of safety 

through all the chaos and strife…

I want to feel love

that doesn’t leave insecurities buried

beneath decades of evasion

projecting problems onto lovers

ignoring my own emotional incarceration…

I want to feel love.

If only I could stitch myself 

back together

mending the wounds of time

as if poets earn medical degrees

diagnosing heartbreak

in each rhyme

So doctor, doctor

can’t you tell me

what’s the solution 

for my condition

because some mornings

when sunshine peaks over

my windowsill

this life don’t seem worth living

I just don’t know

where to go from here

how to grow from here

or do anything more from here

except dry tears

from my eyes

And I’m immune 

to bullshit prescriptions

claiming time heals all

because there’s far too many

broken lovers out there

who never recovered

from the fall

Perhaps doctor, doctor

there’s only one real cure

to ensure

I don’t feel this pain no more

Each morning

when I stare in the mirror

wiping sleep from dreary eyes

the truth becomes clearer:

seeing my reflection 

tears down the façades

materialism power wealth

so despite my best efforts

I just can’t evade myself

Until solitude ceases

to taste like loneliness

love remains trapped

inside that pane of glass

taking the back seat

to your own life

through the lens of regret

you’ll see what’s passed…

Love yourself

and every fiber of who you are

spirit, mind, and body

whether your lover 

is near or far

Love yourself

without limits or hesitations

no one else can save you

so be your own inspiration

and love yourself…

Love yourself.