Thus I Wrote

I sat down last night to talk to my wife
To find out the pieces that make up her life
She had a long list and she began with the first
She showed me all, in her deep well of hurt

My family’s the rock and my wife’s the hard place
They never got on, they’re not in the same place
“You never stood up”, “Or gave me support”
They’re a foundation curse, in her deep well of hurt

My career is all gone and my hair it is gray
Will this damn recession, ever go away?
I can’t find the work, to put money in the purse.
Its another major item, in her deep well of hurt

I say the wrong thing & I look the wrong way
I do get impatient when she ignores what I say
I can get frustrated or angry which is worse
Years of memories, in her deep well of hurt

Is her well too deep? my fear I can’t mask
I feel on my own, with this promethean task
The walls are so treacherous, they’re the slippery sort
Progress is painful, in her deep well of hurt

I’ve got many flaws and that I accept
But there’s two of us in this, and she’s not perfect
But I do still love her, and will do till I’m dirt
But our marriage is drowning, in her deep well of hurt.

You were born here,
And died here,
Against your will….
Hurled into this world,
And taken from it,
By an unseen hand.
But you live on
In our love.
We’re your monument,
And your epitaph.

Where you lead,
I must follow,
In my own way…
You showed me how,
To carry a burden,
To accept my fate,
To leave gracefully,
When my time has come…

At the end I was helpless…
I could not comfort you,
Or give you peace.
As it was a cup,
That could not pass from you.
At the end I was a child,
Already missing you,
Who still needed your love…
So when the fire of your spirit,
Became a flickering ember,
Your last smile,
And wave goodbye,
Meant so much.

Your final ceremony,
Was filled with tears,
But left me comforted
And inspired.
It collected,
All the sparks of your life,
Into a pure beacon,
That shone,
One last time,
And then faded away.