Do Not Underestimate Me, I Depend On No One.... Poem by RIC BASTASA

a child feeling that
he is not loved
destroys himself and
parents still wonder
why
with so much angst
and anger...

a woman feeling so unloved
drowns herself to death
wanting to leave guilt
to those she leaves
behind....

it is a conclusion that
love builds, it makes you
grow, makes you
the best of who you are,
and you must admit
without it you are nothing,
and without the lover,
the beloved dies
as a matter of natural
consequence....

this, in my independence
and open mind, into the wide gate,
not the narrow one,
shall not happen to me at all.