Not Ready

That moment when you look at someone
and realize they're better than you
They're smarter than you
They're sweeter and stronger
and kinder than you.

That moment when you look at someone
and realize you don't deserve them
you're not good enough
for their beauty and charm and wit,
but mostly for their love.

That moment when you love someone
who's too good for you
who's too good to you
and they don't even recognize
the imbalance

That's the moment when you look at someone
and you see two roads,
and you have to decide on the one you will take
and you hate yourself and you're afraid
because neither one is a guaranteed thing

One road is short
It's wide open and easy
You've been down that road many times before
It runs away from the person you love
It's all down hill, to a small pond
Where you are the biggest fish

The other road is a mystery
And that's all there is to it.
It requires trust and time,
It's long, and you don't know
what lies along it, or at the end

And the choice seems easy
And you decide which road you want to take
But you can't see the person you loved
Because they left on that road hours ago
and you still hate yourself for not being ready

But you step onto the path knowing
That what's at the end, or along the way, in the middle
will always be better than a fish pond