Dueling

How long I’ve waited for you to come
my equal, able, worthy foe.
How long I’ve wished to unleash myself
and see how far can I go.

You let me be my full, true self:
my every fiber working as one.
Not so with friends and allies with whom
compromises must be done.

I won’t hold back, not anymore,
for you can take a beating.
And with you, in loss there’s equal joy
as there is in defeating.