TWO loves had I. Now both are dead,
And both are marked by tombstones white.
The one stands in the churchyard near,
The other hid from mortal sight.

The name on one all men may read,        
And learn who lies beneath the stone;
The other name is written where
No eyes can read it but my own.

On one I plant a living flower,
And cherish it with loving hands;      
I shun the single withered leaf
That tells me where the other stands.

To that white tombstone on the hill
In summer days I often go;
From this white stone that nearer lies
I turn me with unuttered woe.

O God, I pray, if love must die,
And make no more of life a part,
Let witness be where all can see,
And not within a living heart.

Dear Fear,

There was a time I trusted you.
A time you would never lie,
but something happened,
it changed as time went by.

You protected me from accidents,
and your concern was well founded,
but then you frightened me,
in ways that proved ungrounded.

You fed me with lots of lies,
things that just were not true.
Confused  about what was real,
still somehow believing you.

Fear I have learned the hard way,
that though I have to live with you,
I have to be very honest with myself,
before I act on what you say or do.

(c)c 6th November 2010

Dear Expectation,

What can I say to you,
that you don't expect to hear.
You seemed to have had me covered,
evey step of the way so far, my dear.

How many times have I been left,
languishing in total despair,
Thinking things were a certain way,
but never seeing you hiding there.

How about the girl who thought,
I was her knight on a white horse,
and I turned out to have clay feet,
you laughed you head off, of course.

I fell in love with "The girl next door",
How wonderful it was all going to be,
only to find out her other seven boyfriends,
all laughing and they were laughing at me.

All those millions in the lotteries,
All those none home run hits.
No, Expectations, I've had enough,
I think  it's time to call it quits.

(c) 5th November 2010.