What You Gave Me
by Michelle Goodale

You gave me life,
While I took yours away.
You gave me freedom,
While I enslaved you.
You gave me love,
While I showed you contempt.
You showed me understanding,
While I gave no ground.
You gave me dreams,
While I shot yours down.
You gave me facts,
While I told you lies.
You taught me well,
While I tried to ignore you.
You gave me myself,
While I hid from me.
November 1997

— writingsonline.com