You asked me a question:
Why was I there?
It was because I had a strong interest
In you, my dear.

We were building on the friendship,
Exploring each other’s minds.
We were being candid with each other
Opening our discussions to discover.

To discover how each other thought,
To see what each other had been taught,
Be it from a form of instructional education,
Or, from actual learning-from-living education.

Either way,
That was where we were on that day.
I was expressing the things that I like,
You took it to mean that you were not right.
Right for me because of my preferences.
I believe you forgot to take note of my interest.

My interest that I had was in you.
Note that my interest was not in my preferences, but in you.
Therefore, my preferences were only that--,
Just preferences.
For my interest was what I was looking at,
And I was looking at you,
Desiring to get to know the inner you.

What you failed to realize
Was I was growing happy and content
With what was before my eyes.
I was pleased with your outer beauty.
If I weren’t, I would not have
Desired to know of your inner beauty.

But, nevertheless, a budding friendship has ended
Because we stepped out of the bounds of friendship to be candid.
But, as a casual friend with no more intent to go further,
Can I give you a word of advice over the one you want to discover?

Always be willing to listen, to hear
What they like, dislike, and even the preferences
They may hold dear.
Keep in mind that, first, you are building a friendship,
Not a life-long, married companionship.

What you will discover in your discovery
Is who the person is, who the person be.
You will also discover, as you become real friends,
His or her preferences can be changed.
For, if they grow to take their interest in you further,
You will note and discover.

That their interest is what they desire,
But their preferences are only what they admired.
To admire is a characteristic that one may like,
But a desire is what one wants to acquire.

Acquire is to gain, to possess, to hold,
To become part of the person’s own.
So while you are in the discovery phase,
Please don’t destroy your potential days.

Days, going from one who is admired
To one who has become desired.
For, if a person has an interest in you, they, in some form, admire you.
Even if you don’t fit their preferences,
Somehow you have hooked their interest.

So just work on building a friendship
And you will discover
That while you are building the friendship,
You are breaking down the preferences.
And, you are moving from someone admired and liked
To someone desired and loved.

Please take this wisdom
From this Christian soldier,
Using it always as you get older.
Not older in age, but gaining maturity.
For maturity is what will produce your victory.

Understand that preference is what people believe that they like,
Until they meet someone that can change that insight.
Be someone that others admire
So that one of those admirers may become
Someone whose heart turns to you with desire.

© 2002 Tecko H. Green
December 2002