The Long Game

Half a lifetime I spent
Thinking you were my friend,
Wasted believing you were safe,
Proved wrong in the end.

The bitter realization
You never listened to understand.
Rather, you were filing away
How to get the upper hand.

Clearly now I can see
Just how well you played your part,
A strategy to gain my trust
And access to my whole heart.

All just a patient bid for time
To ensure you could control
My every movement to lock-down
And force me into some twisted roll.

Cunning and manipulative,
Catching me completely off my guard.
Twenty-six years to play your hand.
Trusting anyone now will prove hard.