The speaker is looking back on a relationship that has ended, and the opening line sets the tone: he said "I love you," but he now doubts he ever meant it. The same line returns at the close, so the poem ends where it began, as if he can't get past that admission.
Most of the poem is his defense. He says he cared as best he could, but when his partner fell, he stood by. His belief is simple: the world knocks you down, and you pick yourself up. He sees her as a quitter who gave up too easily, and he claims he got tired of "taking the beatings" while trying to help. The line "I'm not your kickstand, I'm just an average man" shows him refusing to be someone's support.
The mood is cold and weary, with some defensiveness underneath. The dripping faucet, which he calls the "heartbeat" of his life, suggests a dull, empty stretch of time. He insists he's leaving without regret, yet the repeated doubt about his own love hints that he may be less certain than he sounds.