My Inner Polonius’s Advice to Myself at the Dawn of a Possible New Romance, Depending on How Things Go over the Next Couple of Days

by Tom Cherwin

My blessing with thee!
And these few precepts
See thou inscribe
In the playbook
Of thy memory:
Be as much thyself
As thou think it prudent
Knowing thy long list
Of shortcomings;
Be deliberate and thoughtful
But while being so
Never, as so many
Are wont to do,
Prissily pucker thy lips;
Be in the now,
But for the sake of
Balance and perspective
And, well, just basic human decency
Never let thy gift of denial deny
The unbroken string
Of undeniably disastrous blunders
Thou’ve committed in the past;
Be objective,
But not so removed
That thou fail’st to be present
Should her temperature soar    
And her petticoat plummet;
Be centered
But not self-centered;
Be strong
But not controlling;

Be light
But not lightweight-
Not that I’m saying she’s
Looking for Mr. Gabardine;
Be supportive,
But collude not
In self-deception,
Hers or yours,
Unless, as is’t so often true,
It be necessary
For psychic survival,
Hers or yours;

Be vulnerable,
But not needy;
Be impulsive
But not stupid;
Shower’st  thy be-sweated gropes
And wet kisses
Freely upon her
But keep thy drool in a private tub;
Be independent
But not aloof;
Wear thy heart openly,
But proudly on thy chest,
Not sloppily on thy sleeve;
To wit,
Show much but not all;
Tell much but not all;
Or, put still elsewise:
Come from the heart-
But not entirely;
Speak thy mind-
But not entirely.
Because this above all:
If to thine own self 
Thou’st be true,
But not entirely,
It must follow,
As the night the day
Thou canst not then
Be false to any woman.
Or, not entirely.

Tom Cherwin    copyright 2007