Bedside Colloquy
“Never once doubt that my love will survive,
Blessing you always while you are alive.
When our hearts beat no more, love we will share.
All of eternity love will be there.”
So you would say to me, but you were wrong:
Love’s but a blossom frail or a brief song,
Withered the petals, the music off-key.
Sometimes I think that you never loved me!
Far from eternal, as poets have said,
Love disappears long before we are dead.
Pain rules your body now, anguish my brain.
I’ve loved you all my life. Was it in vain?
“Can your love help me now? Can your love cure?
Can it relieve the pain I must endure?
I’m in a prison; old age is my crime;
And, though I long for peace, death takes its time.
Yes, I remember that flowery speech
Made when recovery seemed within reach.
Hope now has dimmed for me; faith too is far.
Sometimes I doubt that God knows where we are!
“Still I do love you, child, and I do bless,
Even without a smile or a caress!
This final illness I’ve no control of --
It will be over soon -- never my love.”
|