Relationship Exchange

Everyone who comes into my life I learn from,
They make an impression on me.
Commensurate is the impression made
With position played in my life and time I've spent with the addressee.

Likewise, in every (attempted) relationship
A part of me I leave.
I give every person my one hundred percent,
I’d like to believe.

Whether it’s a mentor, teacher, potential spouse,
Or a friend,
Depending on the situation
Correspondingly I extend.

Is there a way to return the piece of the other’s essence
I subsequently hold?
A way to take back what I’ve shared
And render things told untold?

The paradox is that if I want a relationship to have a chance
I’ve got to put up lots of overhead.
But it’s rarely equal give-and-take
And sometimes I end up in the red.

I invest
And don’t always get proportionate return,
I guess though there are valuable lessons in every encounter
Just waiting to be learned.