Jack’s mother loves
Jack because Jack is loveable
and Jack is only loveable
because he loves his parents
and because they love him.
Jill doesn’t love herself
because her parents
cannot love
each other
and they cannot love
Jill.
Then Jill met Jack
and she started to love
Jack and herself
because Jack loved her,
making her loveable
because Jack loves her
and Jill loves Jack
and herself.
Jack loves Jill
because Jill loves
him.
They have decided
they prefer this
to unrequited love
and vowed to stop loving
if it were not mutual
and reciprocal
which is much better
than unrequited love.
They are also happy
because of their love
for each other.
Something unspeakable happened.
To Jack.
He ceased to exist
other than as a memory
within the mind
of Jill.
Jill still loves
herself
but she is very
unhappy.
She should not be
unhappy.
We must convince her
not to be unhappy.
We try to convince her that
she is happy
but she won’t cooperate.
She says she is trying.
Her problem is that
she thinks she is trying
to be happy
when we know she is trying
to be unhappy.
Jill is angry at us
for thinking that she is trying to be
unhappy
when she is trying to be
happy. Jill’s problem now
is that she is trying to be happy
while she is angry.
And so on…