Donated Love Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

I have already donated love.
And volunteered heartbreak.
To believe my invested interest,
Was a rush too soon to assume...
I would receive from that mistake,
A lifetime of returned dividends made.

Not thinking I would find to discover,
Myself being remarkably...
Charaded by someone who plays,
The part of a committed lover.

On a 'trip' I took my emotions on a cruise.
Through one night stands.
Meeting those I thought understood.
Only to leave scenes like these,
More to comprehend and understand...
People who bare their hearts on their sleeves,
Seem to need their victimization validated.
And leaving feeling satisfied they've been abused.

I have already donated love.
To think of it and accept,
Every bit of it I had given away.

And then one day it dawned on me...
As I removed tears from a pity pot to do.
That a love I gave away to donate it given,
Had come from a place...
Where more had been stored to ignore.
To know I am love.
With time needed to recuperate,
From someone who would never appreciate,
Or come to know what love was to feel it.

And I know what love is to give and admit.
Although today with my love kept to age,
I'm hoping to be the receiver of more.
From someone who has it stored.
With a seeking me to donate,
As much of it as I can take to share it.