Must I tell the truth? Must I admit that I took love

For granted? That I thought love as nothing,

Something to be played with, cast off in light of

A new toy. Well, yes, that is precisely what I did,

And now I have paid the price.

Wondering around my life I find myself touching

The things she touched, everything from a signet

Ring to the kettle in the kitchen. Often sat in the

Shadows she'd watch me working, a faith in her

Eyes that still hurts today. Sometimes she'd play

With a pencil crossing her beautiful legs to catch

It in her lap. She was so cute and so easy to love.

It's always the little things that cut the deepest

A scarf left behind with a vague note of Daisy,

What I'd give for one minute … but there are no

Minutes, no seconds, so, wondering around my life

I find myself on journeys I'd prefer not to take.

She's gone now and I am to blame, safe to say that

I will not make the same mistakes again, for I have

Learnt and learnt well. I have tasted the bitter fruits

Of loneliness, walked the empty streets of despair,

And come out into the light, somewhat older and

If I may I say so, measurably wiser.

© Joseph G Dawson