lessons in poetry

There’s a difference between “love” and
“ameliorating this person’s madness makes me feel useful”.
Can take a lifetime to learn it, tho.
It took being left by someone that I loved
but was self-destructively crazy and
couldn’t see the forest for the trees
of how much I was sacrificing for her
then she left me anyway
to get it through my head
that love is awesome but if you’re
driving yourself crazy trying to
help someone be less crazy maybe
you’re better off alone instead.
My father has based a nearly forty year marriage
on willfully not learning the aforementioned lesson
so maybe it runs in the family
maybe madness will come back to me.
But I’m trying to instead of just loving
also give myself my due self-respect.
But no I don’t take bets.