Raise the Bar

The first time I saw you, I gasped

Smitten at first sight, you raised the bar.

Your brown gaze making me blush hard

Between our secret rambles, I knew you raised the bar.

You made me laugh, made me nervous

Suddenly I was feeling things that I couldn’t even imagine

My day felt incomplete without your presence

Our little friendship drawing all the judgment

When you laughed it all off,

Unfazed, waited every day outside my class

I couldn’t help but think, you raised the bar.

 

When I caught myself smiling goofily each time you texted

When I got a little-scared wondering how well we connected

When I found out that I was hooked on your stories

Started wearing my hair down, the way you liked them to be

When I made an effort to like your favorite songs

I realized that you were everything I waited for so long

Sitting next to you, evident electricity hung in the air

Got lost in our little world, felt serene under your care

When I saw myself loving you silently from afar

I knew then and there, you raised the bar.

 

You covered the distance between us,

Met me in the middle

You got along with my friends very well

But only my name filled your talks, they’d tell

When you dedicated me a love song

Made me listen to it on and on

When you’d remember all the little things

Made me feel special with the way you’d tease

Although I would never admit anything

Yet you always knew how I was feeling

You stood up for me whenever I needed

Showed the way I should be treated

When you voiced my musings

Confessed how you love that we fit

Said you couldn’t wait to make me all yours

Oh, how I loved when you raised the bar!

 

I fell in too deep,

Everything so dreamy

Just when I thought I got my happy ending,

Something between us shifted

Although I couldn’t put a finger on it

Yet I convinced myself truly believing

We would make it work through it all

Because my love, you raised the bar.

 

The air between us reeked of someone else

Like a ghost lingering from the past

Repeatedly I asked,

You would assure me every time

I felt sick in the pit of my stomach

But I’d believe you, turning blind

Somehow, I still consoled myself saying

But you raised the bar, right?!

 

When nothing seemed true

I found myself completely hooked to you

I cried, I rationalized

When you hung me out to dry

You became distant

I accepted it as my punishment

When you took me for granted

I chose to believe, we are worth it.

I still refused to end it all

But now I wonder, did you really raise the bar?

 

And one day, my fears came true

When your lies fell all the way through

You conveniently broke two hearts

I cursed myself how could I not tell the lies apart

Numb I spent my days, oblivious to the world

Recounting every detail, burning alive in my own personal hell

And then I stopped, I realized

That it was always your choice

Finally, I saw a ray in the dark,

It was time for me to raise the bar.

 

I stood still,

Finding the strength within

Let myself be filled with the power

I wouldn’t waste my tears on a coward

The smile getting broader each day

I found solace as I broke away

The time healed my scars

Contented, I knew I have raised the bar

 

When I was at my finest, you cracked

Funny how these things work, you came back

But now I know better, I am smart

I see you gawking at me from afar

You know I won’t allow you in

My heart is not within your reach

I put you on a pedestal, I watched it break

One leg at a time

Can’t believe we were once at our prime

I have now come way too far

Oh honey, now you know I raised the bar.

 

After all this time we ended

Broken pieces that couldn’t be mended

I find my thoughts come back to you

Wondering do you also sometimes feel blue?

You came like a wild wave

The sand castle of my dreams washed away

Remains of it are not hard to trace

Scattered memories could still be placed

Now I stand on the beach with a clean slate

Embracing the tide yet again

Basking in the summer of yesterday

The only memories that I choose to stay

Show the beauty of you and me

I choose to forgive you in entirety

With my heart bare, I decided to share

You were my first true love, my dear

And special will it forever remain

No matter how many men later came

You’d always be closer than you think you are

As the hard lesson, I needed to grasp

Peaceful, I have come out of the dark

And I realize,

It was because of you that I raised the bar.