I'm Not Taken

 Be yourself; everyone else is already taken. ~ Oscar Wilde

Imitation may be the most sincere flattery
but living a lie is a life of an actor, a pretender.
Codependency is a way of trying to live another's life,
to be so at his beck and call as to reside in his mind,
to lose the self in the other, in the dominant, in him.
But in so doing the codependent loses herself,
melds with him, becomes his hands, his robot, his servant.
When the me I see is so repugnant, so vile I cannot show it,
when I expect your ire, your hatred, your pity, your loathing
if you knew me as I know me, then I act as one I'd have you buy as me.
But it's all lies, untruths, not me. And if I would have peace,
if I would live honestly, if I can accept myself so I can believe
you might not only tolerate me but you could love me
as little as I may feel that deserved, then I find identity
in this unique person with special skills, with a calling unique,
with a purpose in life, and I know that I can be me
because I'm not taken.