I don’t want to say “No”
because I know what it’s like to hear.
Surely, everybody does
but the way I feel,
I don’t want to be responsible
for causing that in others,
not if I can do otherwise.

So I do what I can
to work with people’s wants
though I think of myself
as sort of a selfish so-and-so.
When someone goes to the effort of asking,
I know how hard that can be
so I try to be helpful.
I see how I can be there for them.

It is good
to be there for people
though often
quite inconvenient.