Love Sonnet

[Am I A Poet?]

I’ve strained and pulled; I’ve given all I can.
Yet chained in links of iron dollar signs "dollar signs" conveys your message but is unimaginative
and forced to work these old, exhausted mines,
I’m told that this is how to be a man. content wise, the first line is at a bit of a disconnect with the last three, which give a very solid image on their own.

So lately, I’ve been doubting why I’m here: progression from stanza to stanza is strong and a rare case of a justified use of "so".
a faithless soul who’s fated to be lost this internal slant rhyme is great, it nails two of your three key words for me in this line (the other being "lost") Punctuation at the end of the line, to avoid having to use "in" to make the syntax work
a lifetime in a world of counting cost,
and getting by, and cowering in fear. the idea of fear hasn't really been built up to, just futility and economic ideas thus far. Bit abrupt for me

But what is this, I feel so suddenly? another very clear movement from stanza to stanza, a clinical structure to your message. Does the comma have a function?
the way you touch my heart… you loose the chains repetition of "chain" could be substituted for "bonds"? Comma at the end of the line?
and gently peel them from their time-worn veins what is "time-worn" supposed to convey in the context of the imagery so far?
to show me everything that I can be. cliché alert

And now, with hope at last, my eyes can see
that I belong with you, and you with me. weak last stanza. Structurally consistent with your division of themes which is admirable, but full of tired images like "eyes can see" and "I belong with you, and you with me"

There's definitely a poem here, but the last two lines fizzle the creativity out. The movement from being chained to being lost seemed a confusing jump of imagery to me, with the economics imagery trying, but being inadequate, to tie it. The structure of your stanzas is great, developing a clear flow of logical thinking in what they try to achieve.

The language about love becomes very specific to an individual, while seeming to refer to the generic, spiritual power of love on the narrative voice. This is a bit of an inaccurate message to me, but the rhythm reads well for me (I'm not an expert in meter so don't take my word for it) and overall I liked this poem. A few clichés here and there to tighten up though.

Thanks for reading.