Oh, how tortured is this fragile web
We cling to and call life.
Oh, how brutal the reality of its tender strands,
So easily trespassed.
Joy is so fiercely held
In what is but a wisp of smoke,
Waiting for one exhaled breath to set it adrift,
With no hint of the solidity
We imagined would comprise its core.

The pain of Knowing Truth
Breaks free.
The cloud of smoke blows away,
And the world reveals itself
For what it truly is,
To our horror.

Despair settles in
For his long winter sleep,
Clutching his icy fingers
Around faintly-beating hearts.
Tears flow in the endless stream of sorrow
That Knowledge must bring,
With regret,
But delivers just the same.

Hope sits patiently by,
Waiting for her turn to be reborn,
To renew a shattered life,
To return to it that breath of spring
Long forgotten in winter’s frosty grip.

Let us pray:
Oh, sweet love,
My life’s love,
My soul’s desire,
My heart’s swollen spring of Joy
Returned once more again . . .
For how long will you stay with me
This time?