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don’t ruin yourself
pursuing the ones who want
something you are not

*
I still remember in high school when, as a young fan of Billy Shakespeare, I first realized that a few of my favorite words of wisdom were penned for a character who struck me as an utter fool. That character was, of course, Polonius from the play Hamlet, and this haiku references one of his most famous lines (“To thine own self be true”).

The incongruity of it fascinated me, that a line of such wisdom would be spoken by a blithering imbecile. That said, I am aware there are those who believe Polonius’s character was smarter than he appeared and that the dimwit act was done to curry favor with King Claudius. Which, in a way, may be even more ironic.

this is what happens
when we fail to understand
the value of life.

I don’t belong
yet I do,
and the part of me that does
belongs to you.