Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Walls

Looking through my poetry notebook, and realized I never posted this one, which is very apropos right now, even though it was written January 12, 1983.

WALLS
In younger days she trusted everyone--
Her little world was perfect, and no one could hurt her.
Life was full of sunshine and laughter, and she grew up expecting it to always be that way.
Then one day her perfect world, and her family, fell apart,
Chipping away at her trust bit by bit, day by day.
Just when she had begun to trust again, believing in a man,
He threw her young heart back in her face
As though it meant nothing, when he was everything to her.
This time it took years to rebuild her trust,
And with it came a wall to protect her from pain--
No one was ever going to hurt her again!
No one could break through to her heart,
until a man came into her life with such pretty words.
He promised sweetness the rest of their lives,
but as soon as he had taken what he wanted,
he became pushy and arrogant.
Soon she knew they were over and said goodbye--
more pain and anger to rebuild the wall
and more years spent learning to trust once more.
When she decided to take a chance the third time,
she promised herself not to let go until she was sure--
Sure this man was worthy of her trust and love.
How could she have known he'd say and do all the right things
just long enough for her to lose her heart completely,
then turn away and pretend she wasn't there?
Now she'll never trust another man with her heart,
and the wall of resentment is too thick for anyone to break through.
© 1983 TDD