When we met you told me stories of your ex,
How you were taken for granted, alienated, disrespected,
Mistreated, to the end never cherished.
I shook my head and as a man wished I could've shouldered the blame,
And with time show you love, take away the pain.

At first I wondered why would someone so precious,
Sacrificed herself for someone so undeserving of her very presence,
Who because of insecurities and ignorance failed to notice that you were heaven sent,
A Queen who let him in her court and stood by his side through all those dark nights,
Fighting to keep her kingdom together even though she was living with a commoner.

That night I looked into your eyes clouded with doubts,
And saw strength that with nurturing wanted to come out,
Weren't any doubts that you were strong,
Because it took strength to stay with that man,
Even more when you did it all without a helping hand.

The abuse from the past I thought I could've taken it all away,
But the years and the experience had made you cold,
Freezing my love as it tried to touch your heart searching to free your troubled soul,
Trapped in its mentality, the company of misery and losing reality.

I tried to show you love, but you it wouldn't be,
Your pain made it hard for you to see that love can be free,
But instead you attempted to treat me the way you were treated in the past,
Thinking that all of us after him had no class,
Thinking that I would settle for misery, become lost.

No, you see I am a good man, and nowadays good is a rarity,
A man who doesn't believe in settling for less than what God has planned for me,
And if you were meant for me then you would have been able to see,
The glow of love that flows through me, my attempts to treat you like a Queen,
And maybe we could have broken the cycle of the past and restructure your present mentality.

                                    Omar R. Anderson

February 9, 2003 - February 22, 2003 Edition