If it’s someone I know, I should ask only once.
…Maybe twice or a third time, if I know them well.
But to bother folks constantly with what I want
Is unfitting behavior. I don’t want to haunt
Like a pesky old ghost on a mission from hell.
As I force myself on others, I am the dunce.

Do I want to be pleasant or nasty with folk?
That should always be obvious. When it is not
It’s because I have chosen to react to life.
If instead I responded, I’d feel much less strife
Reacting does enslave me. My life is then fraught.
If I act out in misery, I’m my own joke.

Do I want to get good at abusing brick walls?
It’s a stiff occupation. They don’t respond well
To my thirst for attention. My Mood Is On Me.
I do put myself through immense purgatory.
To respond is to master my story to tell.
To react to rejection is when my mood falls.