On nothing

If I told you how I feel about you
That would make me as bad as you.
Maybe even the fact I feel this way
Means I already am.

I don't hate you at all,
Though I'd have every right to do so,
After what you said to me
I should hate you through and through.

You had no right to put me down
Or to rub your happiness in my face.
I know you wanted to get a rise out of me
But I wouldn't give you the satisfaction.

How you treat people is a reflection of you,
It has nothing to do with me as a person.
If you want to compare me to swine
There's nothing I can do about that.

I don't know what brought on the attack,
Your poor attempt at an answer failed.
I don't care what you call me anymore
Because your words are meaningless.

You told me I was dirty - I laughed -
Clearly only in retrospect, I suspect
As I was good enough in your eyes
To share your bed when you were lonely.

You removed me from your life,
I didn't give a single damn,
But showed you your reflection
And I hope it bit you back.

I only ever offered you friendship,
I never judged you for past indiscretions.
I never hurt your feelings or your body
Or asked anything of you in return.

You thought you were hurting me
Or being so incredibly tough
but a real man has no need
To play such childish games.

The phase you were going through
When you called me such vile things
Is hopefully long since put to rest
And you are better than that now.

I hope the girl I was so harshly compared to
Get the best you have to offer
Because I have see a side of you
That I'm sure is not the worst.

This is the consequence of your action -
Not loud, vexatious words -
A calm civility and politeness
That anyone might hope to receive.

The nearly thirty years I'd known you,
Since you were a babe in arms,
Are a memory of a person long gone
And I mourn the loss of that soul.

But you are not that person -
That person is dead and buried,
Though no grave exists,
Nor tombstone to mark a life thrown away.

You, so callous and unfeeling,
Cannot hope to endear yourself to me
Nor claim any of the affection
That I had for that boy now gone.

I loved that boy as family
And you used his name in vain
So there is no more love to give,
The well has now run dry.

How I feel about you today -
After all you said and did -
Is a fraction of the emptiness
That fills the void between us.

It is something less than nothing -
Exactly what you thought of me.
You might have sought to bring me down
But your infantile insults fell far too short.

I say, "Good day to you, good sir."
Bow my head politely in your direction,
But the words are hollow vessels,
And I bid you (fond) adieu.