Things could certainly have been different
if we were different people.
Songs of blame loop endlessly
when one person breaks free
and one is bound in place.

Abandoned in our small house,
made smaller by lack of you,
I grieved a long time.
Send in the Clowns was my theme for years,
until I realized my destiny can’t be tied
to someone who leaves,
or yours to someone who can’t move on.

Perhaps I could have shown love more—though
It always seemed we were solid and secure.
Perhaps I did make the relationship revolve around me.
That doesn’t mean I didn’t love you.

I loved our days of innocence and consequences
and understand the leaving now.
Hard lessons taught by thorns and pain made marks,
though we shared a rich story, a long walk
made mostly in joy.

You rebounded quickly.
My heart, a wounded deer,
at last peeks cautiously out.
Joy persists.