Selfless Love.

I tell myself it is unselfish

Choosing not to love

Because I know

I cannot hold another's feelings

And my own

And I would cast theirs out

To maintain the purity of mine.

The rhythm of my heart is precise.

It is offbeat. And no man's drums

Could match it.

So I spare them the pain

Of loving me.

It's a kindness.

I tell myself this, and it frees me.

In truth, I'm too lazy to love you.

To chain myself to a phone

To open my thoughts

My home, my bed.

I like to be alone.

I am selfish.

A miserable misanthrope.

Please don't ask me

what true giving is.

I've never known the words.