While You Talk About How Bad He Is

While you talk about how bad he is
I chew my nails
I stare at the floor
I try to nod sympathetically
Because I see that you feel passionately
About all of this
And, on the surface
You are flattering me
So, of course, I'm going to listen
And be kind

Some people would get angry at you
For talking this way
About the person they're seeing

'How dare you!' they'd say

And storm off
Claiming the world doesn't understand
What they see
In the person
They're dating

I know what you must think of me

You must think that I'm some incredibly deep person
The antithesis of shallow, or vain
Or maybe you think I have a savior complex
Or a bad boy complex
Or that I was unattractive growing up
And so my taste is stunted
And that's how I wind up with guys that look like him

While you talk about how bad he is
I notice you choosing your words slowly and cautiously
Afraid that I may lose track of the point
The point being a simple one
And so I wonder if you think
That perhaps
I'm just plain stupid

Do you think I'm unaware that people talk about me?
That they say 'oh, it's too bad'
That they say I could do so much better
That they fret and worry
Over my tender condition
That one day I'll realize I'm dating someone beneath me
And when it hits me
I'll be shaken to my core

You know, you should never assume
That a person is doing something
Without a reason

People always have reasons
For why they live where they live
Or work where they work
Or date who they date

While you talk about how bad he is
I think about your reason
For doing so

Because you want me?
You know you can have me

I wonder if I should tell you that
I wonder if I should say--

'Skip the argument, and just do what you want.'

But I don't

That wouldn't gel with the image of me
You love so much

The image, not me
I'm not what you love
Or want, rather

You see me as someone
Who's oblivious

Lost, in need of help

I don't need any help

What you don't realize
Is that I like being talked about
And nobody talks about you
When you date
Who you're supposed to

I want to be the good one
The one people say deserves better

Because, you see
In every relationship
There's the good one
And the bad one

And I decided a long time ago
That it would be really easy
For me to be the bad one
And I'd rather
Be the other

So while you talk about how bad he is
I'll be thinking about how you could be talking
About me

The way I chew my nails
And avoid eye contact
And seem fake overall

So you see
I know how he is
And I know how I am

And I'd rather be sitting here
Getting talked to

Than somewhere else
Getting talked about