Why?

Why does love always

require some sacrifice,

making us a gambler

tossing out the dice.

I’m not a diamond

but certainly not coal,

with so much to give

from a warm loving soul.

A fair number of women

over the many years,

more often than not

causing gut wrenching tears.

Is grief always the

price we pay for love,

hoping for the blessing

from an angel above.

Yes I know well…

I’m sounding so angry,

while looking for love

seems so very contrary.

But stop for a minute

and view from here,

I was thirty-four

before I married in fear.

She was twice married

widowed from the last,

a 12 ga shotgun

left her soul aghast.

She seemed so frail

a child in her care,

oft times looking about

in a trance like stare.

She carried a burden

of a childhood gone wrong,

leaving her empty with

a heart lacking its song.

We met one day

with mutual friends

a glimmer of a spark

leaving me without ends.

Something from within

called for a knight,

to chase ghosts away

haunting her in the night.

I reached out to her

took her under my wing,

little by little her heart

again began to sing,

Twenty-three years

spent focusing on her,

losing my dreams

becoming more unsure.

Yet the voice repeated

you love her so,

the path I chose

I was destined to go.

But her child grew up

with hatred in her heart,

I was the her enemy

doomed from the start.

My lady did listen

to her own daughter,

and I was led

to my unjust slaughter.

But we were truly soul

mates from the start,

again we connected

heart to lonely heart.

But fate stepped in

and she had cancer,

again slipping from

my grasp without answer.

Now I’m so very lost

searching for another,

feeling totally adrift

like a childless mother.

I’m no longer complete

just craving more,

needing that partner to

make my life soar.

Where are you hiding

I’m waiting for you,

reach out and take

my hand erasing the blue.

It’s more than want

I need you to live,

come into my life

and to you I’ll give.

Gary R. Cramer

May 8, 2022