To Want To Be Liked Poem by RIC BASTASA

to want to be wanted
to want to be liked
to want to be needed
indeed for one to be indispensable
hungry for praise
seeking attention
grabbing the glory
of whatever shall be

to be loved
to be wanted
to be liked

to love
to want
to like

this is man and this is woman
mortal

there is nothing divine
in this self
in this self searching self
that in loving to be loved
destroys itself in return

to God, is the giving of self
outward, opening like fingers spreading to the skies
hands that open and never shall close
because love so divine always opens
unconsumed unexhausted undefeated