Letters

Bits of paper,

marks of ink,

put together,

somehow link,

parts of you,

to parts of me,

our hearts too

eternally.

Who are you sailing with?

Life's like an ocean,

sometimes its as calm as can be,

other times its a stormy sea.

But its not the weather,

you're sailing in that counts.

Its who you're sailing with!

The box in the loft

I pulled the suitcase down
from its hiding place high up
in my bedroom loft.
I brushed off the dust and opened it.
Years ago, I'd opened this suitcase
and got my heart out.
I'd decided to love despite the risk.
Chosen to take the plunge.
I wasn't going to shrink
at the sight of love.
I was going to give my heart away
and if it got broken,
I'd hold it but only till I found
someone else to give it to.
But when I met you,
you changed my way of thinking.
I didn't know a person could
hurt as much as this.
Didn't know I could
feel this much pain.
You made me afraid.
Afraid of loving anyone as
much as I love you because
then they'd have so much
power over me.
Much like you do.
So I got the suitcase out
and I'm placing my heart
back in there.
I'm putting my love for you in a box
and I'm going to lock it up forever.
Sure I'll still be your friend but
I'll never let myself love you
this much again.
Call me a coward if you will,
I'll never let myself love
another this much again.

She died

You came back about
a month ago, two years
after you left the country.
It was only six months
after the wedding and
still you wonder what
happened to your merry bride?
I see you looking at me curiously
from the corner of your eye
as you cuddle the child
you've only just seen.
You haven't said a thing,
but I know you're thinking it.
What happened
to the girl you left behind?
The one who adored you,
who worshipped the
very ground you trod.
The girl who would have
given heaven and earth
just to make you happy.
Husband mine; she died.
In her place is a woman.
Birthed by a lonely heart,
in a cold bed, amidst the
night shadows of a bleak room.

Too old to laugh

I watch you get ready for work,
the perfect makeup, the right clothes,
not a hair out of place.
Still you talk,
and I, as usual listen-
with only one ear.
"Stop taking life so casually,
there's a time to grow up,"
you say.
Should start thinking of what
I want to do with my life.
Start working for that promotion,
saving for a car,
begin to look out for a wedding ring.
And when you see my placid expression,
you exasperatedly say, that I've lost much,
before you walk out the door.
And perhaps you're right,
I do need to grow up,
I might have even lost much.
I can't help but think though,
that you've lost more.
The things we used to love,
don't mean much to you anymore.
You'd rather go to a cafe,
than just enjoy a picnic
on a Sunday afternoon,
you'd rather go to the cinema
than stay in one saturday
and revel in the antics of a
Tom and Jerry cartoon,
its important for you to
look sophisticated, smart and sassy
than get dirty with the rest of us
as we wrestle across the sand
on a beach for a volleyball.
You grew up too fast my dear,
and you grew too old to laugh.