Yet Still

Yet Still

Yet still. 

I can feel your sadness, and pride

And the hollow we both hold, deep inside

The space where so many thoughts will collide

How did we allow our love to divide?

 

Yet still

I remember loving you, 

under the moon against the rail

Back when we pushed the “us” to sail

When did our “we,” became your jail?  

 

Yet still. 

Here, at night, the sky fills with stars 

Are you looking too, from somewhere afar?

We watched shooting stars, soar through the sky

My hand in yours, how I wished we could fly.

 

Yet still.

A song triggers memories so sweet

Kitchen dancing to the pumping beat

Music joined with the summer heat;

We climbed our hill, above the lake

Our dreams entwined, a life to make. 

 

Yet still. 

I think of the place we first lay,

Blue sky above, with pines a-sway

Our vision grew, full colour display

And we saw the world a different way

Can we ever go back, to that day in May?

 

Yet still.

Do you remember that time  

When moonlight created a shimmering line 

To dancing loons, that circled in time?

Flapping their wings, their walking skate

Each one rose, in search of a mate

But the clouds came in, and covered the moon

And we were left thinking, it was over too soon.

Yet still.

I think about the late summer day

Our marriage vows were cast away

The lake a cold bath, we had that morning

The power went off, without any warning

Our vows were lost, a template was read

We repeated them, laughing at words we said.

 

Yet still. 

Our family was called to make an oath 

To see us through, the hardest growth

Those times when life creates divide

When love is challenged, it runs to hide

Where are they now? They built a wall

I try to climb… but always fall.

 

Yet still.

I yearn for the life we had planned out, 

Days spent together, without any doubt 

So long ago, before your work took the space

That I once had, at the start of our race.

Yet still. 

I think of our dreams to be free 

A vineyard, a farm, a hotel by the sea

Each needed commitment, but we couldn’t agree

That both of us, should become a strong “we.”

 

Yet still.

I remember, discussing our plan 

To avoid nine to five, and the corporate man

But our dreams faded, and we fell into the ranks 

Of days filled by work, and empty thanks

More time spent apart, than together to grow

To learn how to value, the love we bestow,

 

Yet still.

You no longer yearn to be by the sea 

A lake calm and still is where you must be

As the years passed, your focus it dimmed 

Your work took priority, while love for me thinned

Deep in my heart, I knew without doubt

The love you once held, had slowly burned out

Little was left, but the knowledge impending 

That one-sided love, is never transcending

Yet still. 

When love is held as life’s great mission

It pushes us beyond, our own small condition

Out into the world, we learn how to give

And that is the fuel, that inspires us to live

A much bigger life, than one stuck revolving

On personal desires, with little evolving.

Love, allows you to see the sparkle of light

That adds depth and meaning, to a dark night.

 

Yet still. 

Living to satisfy want, desire and need

Does not lift us out, of a world filled with greed

Too many buy into the flattering notion 

That life should be focused on self-devotion

 

Yet still 

I cry as the world promotes, this deception 

And suicide rates climb beyond, all perception

When our kids became teens, I realised perhaps late

The life we were living, allow few to escape

The consumerist world, such a stark empty place

Where success isn’t measured, on how you make the world better

But by the fashion brand, that appears on your sweater

 

Yet still.

I hope that our kids, have learned how to treasure

The strength that it takes, to ignore easy pleasure

When over the years, I put aside my thirst,

To wait patiently, while I slowly nursed

The dreams made for two, that have now burst

When I pushed you too hard, to put me first.

 

Yet still.

I know the struggle you’ll have, to have love once again

To let down your defences, and the fears deep within

To face a new future, to take a new route  

Away from your data, to a different pursuit

And maybe you’ll embrace a life filled with diversity

And the changes that create enough adversity

To push you to keep, growing, learning and thriving  

And give you the strength to have one love surviving.

 

Yet still. 

When you left, I hoped there might be line

To tie us together, until I could find

A route to the dream, once mutually held 

To spend days together, and have our lives meld.

 

Yet still.

As Covid-19 sets the world all ablaze, 

I’ve learned to live alone, over so many days 

Without you beside me, to place focus on 

I found my inner voice, I thought was long gone.

 

Yet still.

When love first begins, it demands compromise

To give more of ourselves and not monopolise

Love pulls us out, from our own selfish minds 

and allows us to see, the world without blinds. 

 

Yet still. 

As I write this, I know it’s time to give up

I can see that your soul, is somehow stuck

The man I once knew, lost his way long ago

He cycled the world for charity, don’t you know?

Back then I imagine the hills he rode down,

His arms spread wide open, he wore a gold crown

He wasn’t afraid to take life by the horns,

He was my king, and the man I shall mourn.

  

Yet still. 

I feel gratitude, for the time we had in our life

I know that I’ve grown beyond, that naive little wife

Who came into our marriage, bright-eyed with delight

Believing our dreams could weave together, at night.

 

Yet still.

Love is the power to quench every desire

Love is the pulsing beat, that pushed man to create fire

Love is the roaring drive, that ignites every invention

Love is the force giving life, its eternal dimension.

Leave a Reply