Given

Given
Valerie Owens

My heart is not to be won
and your attempts to do so are stifling
The prize goes to
the boy who never tried;
the boy who never wanted it,
not like you did.
The unfairness strikes me as cruel
which is why
I haven't told you
yet.
I tried,
but the words felt thick and unkind,
so unlike the me you claim to love.