If I could snap my fingers for you
Take your troubles down
A peg or two

Unencumber you from life’s demands
And set you free
In a moment

I would not

Don’t get me wrong
It hurts to walk away
To wake each day aware that you’re in pain
And feel your years encroach on time
You won’t get back

But if I took away the gift you have
Given to you by years
Of indecision and opportunity

You would not know
The joy of freedom
It would feel empty
You have to earn it

It is not taken
It can’t be bought or sold
Your rights to it are eternal
If you believe it to be true

It’s up to you
To grasp the thread of hope
That waits in you and leads through pain to joy

It’s your decision
Only your footsteps matter
No-one else can get you there

And it sounds horrific
But imagine the alternative,
That there is another who could carry you:

What if they left or died or disappeared
What if your only chance at life
Lived somewhere else?

Your chances lie inside you
They never die so long
As you are living

They are your one true breath
Your fight will be their name
Your prize their liberation

If I could snap my fingers and release you
I would not
But I will hold you close
When times are light and heavy
And life is at your side

For those who know what freedom feels like
Pay the right price
Every time

How dreary is the moment
when one soul looks upon another
and in realization, says to himself,
"I do not want you anymore,"

and how much worse the moment
when the second sees the first
and with recognition, says to herself,
"You do not want me anymore."

Look at those
downcast cheekbones,
upturned eyes.
Look at the cloak
of hair that curls
around her face
like climbing vines
about a fence.
Look at her
neck like a vase
and a fanciful
silhouette thereof.
See how it all
gives way to flushed
skin and those
eyes light up with
demure appreciation
for everything
you do
and everything
you say, it seems.
How can you
forget her
even for  a night?
Every move
she makes
engenders
a shudder
in you because
you always think
she might just
touch you.  And oh,
look again upon that
countenance--
there is just
something
about a beautiful woman
that begs
to be loved.