Love is Mad

Love…is a crazy thing.

When life seems normal,

Free, and unconstrained,

Two pairs of eyes meet,

 Or two elbows bump,

And everything can change.

Forward 5 years

Those pairs of eyes stare together,

At strangely white walls,

A rolled-up wedding-gift rug,

And a beautiful baby boy who only know how to crawl.

A glance in her direction shows sparkling wet eyes.

She says she’s always hated goodbyes.

“Don’t give up,” he whispers delicately in her ear.

Picking up her cooing new source of hope,

“I won’t give up on us,” she replies, their time coming near.

He gives a gentleman’s bow, her a curtsy,

The waltz slowly and intimately

Through the kitchen (which is also the bedroom).

For an instant, it’s a marvelous ballroom.

They weave through boxes of old clothes

Left over furniture,

Their minds worlds away

From his latest job’s recent foreclosure.

Suddenly their thoughts snap off

And their thoughts back to reality.

Their lips meet softly,

And soon their tears follow.

Across the street,

A grandfather whistles joyfully,

Opening the car door for his wife.

As he pops in the other side,

He kisses her forehead,

A wrinkled mantle above face with lines of strife.

She doesn’t know what hope is,

“Hope is for those young-in kids.

I’m just trying to get by—heck!

You’re lucky I just don’t up and die.

There’s no point for me now,

So tell me why!

No. I don’t need you to cry.

Just park the car over there…

No, the other side!”

She’s living but barely alive.

It’s too much

Too much for her to try.

So the walk carefully inside.

The Doctor says she’s recovering quite well.

“Few more months you won’t able to tell.”

“Thanks to the merciful Lord!” he exclaims.

“Come on, let’s go,” She stutters as her hand reaches for her cane.

Down the hall,

A young woman sprints wildly toward an open door.

Bursts into the room and sees blood on the floor.

He assures her, “I’m fine, I’m fine.”

He talks but his weak voice struggles with every line.

The nurses take her aside, “He doesn't have much time.”

Falling to her knees,

Her mind races with the good times.

When he was on his knees,

And as he finished his speech,

He said, “Ember please, Will you marry me?

Because I don’t just want you now,

I want you forever and always,

Every morning for the rest of my life.

When I wake up and open my eyes,

It’s just your beautiful face I want to see by my side.”

Only two years later,

Her stomach is a little bigger.

He always wanted to be a father.

Now a river runs from her eyes,

But it started in her heart.

She sits by his bedside,

Holds his hand tight.

They talk about their kids,

And the house they’ll have in their long life

Together

Forever.

For a moment, it’s quiet.

And he breaks the silence,

“I’d grow old with you,

Always be your best friend.

Love you more each and every day,

Be right with you till the end.”

“I…know,” she barely can say.

“It’s…it’s going to be okay.”

He screams and sobs build and break.

Because his voice is getting too low,

And the beeps are getting too slow…

In a diner town the street,

A beautiful 21-year-old girl walks in with cold feet.

She’d been let down before,

So many times her heart had torn.

And what for?

“For a man who controls me,

Limits me,

Thinks he owns me,

And doesn't understand me?

And if it works out now, we’ll just end up old and unhappy.

--Love just hurts,

And leaves us so broken and insecure,

We keep going back for more.”

She turned to walk out.

She had seen enough broken relationships,

broken marriages, and broken hearts for a lifetime.

No sane person would walk back into pain,

Ignore the warning signs.

But then she caught his eyes.

As nervous and as scared as hers.

She knew there was bound to be a terrible end.

But as she walked back toward the empty seat,

She took each step to let love begin again.