Once Burned

Written January 17, 2006. This is for that B@st@rd who thought he was a bad @$$... Screw you, Derrick.

You say that you want me
To love you forever
To let go of the past
And us be together
Maybe you have changed
And grown up with time
But a year and a half ago
You tore out this heart of mine
No matter how many bottles
I poured in my spirit
Neither man nor drink
Could truly mend it
Quitting was not an option
Though I had nothing left to give
Deep in my soul I hurt like hell
Yet I knew somehow I'd live
The reason that I learned
Came too little too late
And the passion that I carried
Quickly turned to hate
I guess I shouldn't have expected
Any respect out of you
Courage and dignity too much to ask for
Cowardice was all you knew
And now here you come
Down on your knees
Begging that I would
Let you come back to me
Forgiveness has been granted
What more can I give
For now I have dreams and goals
I have my own life to live
You can never again call me yours
I will not be possessed
I'm not a pet you can ignore
Or a doll for you to undress
I've let the hatred go
Though I cling to the pain
I lifted myself from the ashes
And made myself strong again
I will always doubt the words you say
Each time I look in your eyes
You surely know the old cliche
Once burned twice shy
It would have been kinder
To push me from a cliff or drown me in the sea
Than to do what you did
To simply abandon me
But I want to thank you
For the way you snuck out
In spite of the tears I may have cried
I'm a stronger person now
You can't pull the wool over my eyes
Or whisper lies in my ear
I see the man you can't disguise
And I know the truth you don't want me to hear
You can do what you want
To bring me to your side
But no matter what happens
I'm gonna live my own life
It's my game now
We'll play by my rules
It sucks if you don't like it
But I don't feel sorry for you