We’d been together so long, it seemed
That nothing could tear us apart,
We lived our lives in a world of dreams
And Barbara lived in my heart,
But frost had covered the window pane
And then it began to snow,
As Barbara turned, with a look of pain
And said, ‘It’s best that you go.’

I didn’t know what she meant at first
As I looked up from my book,
“Go where?’ I questioned, but thought again
As she quelled my heart with a look.
‘I said I want you to leave,’ she cried,
And her face was set in stone,
‘We’ve come to the end of the path,’ she sighed,
‘I want to be left alone.’

Then suddenly all confusion reined
I didn’t know what to say,
Whatever had brought this mood on her,
I wished it would go away.
But she was firm, and she packed my things
And ushered me out the door,
I stood there shivering in the cold
To be back on my own once more.

I found a flat and I camped the night
There was barely a stick or chair,
I’d have to buy all the furniture
To make it a home in there.
But I sat and cried in the empty room
As the question came back, ‘Why?’
I’d loved her so and my heart was torn,
I thought I wanted to die.

I went to her with my questions, but
She slammed the door in my face,
Whatever love she had had for me
Had vanished, without a trace.
It hurt so much that she cut me off
With never so much as a sigh,
I called that all that I wanted was
To tell me the reason, why?

The roses had bloomed so late that year
Were still in the garden bed,
We’d always tended the bush with joy,
We both loved the colour red,
So I snipped one off as I left one day,
And planted it under her door,
To let her know that I loved her still
I didn’t know how to say more.

Her brother called in a week or so,
Said she was in hospital,
She’d gone in just for a minor cure
And thought that he’d better tell.
So I caught the bus and I went on down
With a quaking fear in my heart,
She hadn’t said there was something wrong
Before she tore us apart.

The doctor came in his long white coat,
His brow and his face was grim,
I said, ‘Don’t tell me the news is bad,’
He said, ‘I’m out on a limb.
Your wife just passed from the surgery,
But she pulled, from under her clothes,
And asked if I’d pass this on to you,’
In his hand was a red, red rose.

David Lewis Paget

I saw my brother’s doppelgänger
On the train back from Miami
He boarded and sat down across from me
This twin of my brother Sammy

My friend clutched my arm in amazement
At my sibling’s new twin brother
I stared as if an angel had come
Couldn’t tell one from the other

His 6 foot four frame just like he stood
His look so like Erik the Red
He walked like him, too, I’d swear he was
My brother Sam raised from the dead

Dressed in tall jeans, a casual look
Just like I imagine him, too
With faded red hair, the same age and
The same friendly kind eyes of blue

For those who mourn will be comforted
I prayed hard for more time to gain
To be with my beloved brother
Then an angel walked on that train

He looked at me so tenderly
Pale eyebrows defined a gentle lift
My throat locked up as tears streamed down
Seeing Sam’s doppelgänger, God’s gift

Come sit with me,
Tell me you've seen my struggle,
Show me you're proud of me,
Your empathy is what I seek,

I'm sorry you have to be here,
And that it has to be this way,
I know high expections,
Often ,from reality, leave us astray,

A few hours from your clock,
And you asking me to be more responsible,
This is all I need from you,
Even if the sun shines and the sky is blue,

I know you're looking out for me,
But I'm not looking for you,
I may be here wanting your attention,
Oh, but there is no compassion,

I've seen you making the effort,
And hopelessly trying,
Always righting my wrong,
But one day you'll too, be gone

Isn't that what always happens?
We care, we love, we break,
Isn't everything too sudden?
Scathing us for our own sake?

So why does it matter if I don't love?
Live by myself, indifferent to my pain,
For aching, our heart is never too young,
So why you say happy ones are the only saints?