I tried to build something that would last, But the die had already been cast. In hubris, I sought to challenge fate, And in doing so did my future create.
Work harder each day, I told myself, Enough effort will breed infinite wealth. A love flourishing like the times of old, The story’s end, reframed and retold.
I sought to revive a love long dead, Realization filling my soul with dread. Tending to a garden full of decay and rot, A bleeding wound that would never clot.
How can I wash myself of this spite, Untie the noose grown so tight. Forgive myself and you as well, Break out of this rusting cell.
There’s only one path forward now, A single way to right my ship’s bow. I must burn the past and close this book, Release my soul from regret’s icy hook.
I wish I could forget your face, Erase my failure, leave not a trace. But growth blossoms from strife, Such is the way of this lonely life.
The flames dance in my eyes, A decade of lows and euphoric highs. Crashing down and turned to ash, Blink, and it’s gone in a flash.
Start from scratch with an empty heart, Eyes focused, feet steady as I depart. Become friends with loneliness and pain, Face the shadows lurking in my brain.
What comes next is uncertainty, I will try to face the future cheerfully. Some good days, others bad, Infinite possibilities to be had.
Thanks for Reading! Here’s Your Musical Pairing
Listen to this after reading, like pairing a glass of wine with dinner
I think you captured it! Her face popped into my head from forty years ago and made me smile. I lived your poem all those years ago and came out of the journey happy and then in love with the woman reading her book on the sofa. We have been happily married for 38 years now yet that forty year old memory still makes me smile, the pain gone. Thanks for the memory.
"In hubris, I sought to challenge fate,
And in doing so did my future create."
Love this so much!!
Noted it down to borrow these phrases for my writing!!