You'd — Summary

NikkyAngry

You were perfect and I was just practice, You'd used me till you needed to upgrade...

You were a dog and I was just a chew toy, You'd shake me till I would no longer squeak...

You were the love of my life and I was just a passenger in yours, You'd pick me up and kick me off when you'd like...

Show the whole poemHide the poem

Learn Poems app

Try the Learn Poems app

Everything from the website trainer, and more: new exercises, voice recording and sharing, reminders, quick review.

Nikky's "You'd" is about being treated as disposable by someone you loved far more than they loved you. The speaker lines up three comparisons, and each one makes the imbalance a little sharper. The other person is "perfect" while the speaker is only "practice," a rehearsal before the real thing. Then the speaker becomes a chew toy, shaken until the squeak runs out. Finally, the speaker is a passenger in a life where the other person is the driver, picked up and kicked off at whim.

The tone is bitter but also sad. The speaker sounds hurt and a bit worn down, and the repeated "You'd" suggests this happened again and again, not once. The trailing dots at the end of each pair of lines make it feel unfinished, as if the pain hasn't stopped. Notice that the speaker never says "I deserved better." The poem just lays out the facts, and that quiet delivery makes it hit harder.

Read also

More by Nikky

All poems
SadNikky

Desperate

I feel so desperate and lost. It's like this place is just a cardboard box. I feel weak and ill. Please just give me some sort of pill.
CheerfulNikky

No one

No one will love you as much as I do, No one will care for you as much as I do, And last of all... No one will put up with your shit as well as I
SadNikky

Where?

I look into the pitch of the night I don't know why it gives me such a fright... Is it cause that's where you first ran your fingers along my skin. Still that thought of us makes me feel so thin