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    Headstall
  • Headstall
  • Author
  • 09/08/2022
  • 184 Words
  • 1,245 Views
  • 34 Comments
Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Odes to Life, Love, Loss, and Loyalty - 2. Chapter 2

Many regrets are sour, but some can become sweet after the pains subsides.

Ode to a Love Lost, but Never Forgotten

 

 

It would have been twenty years today

If we'd kept our promises

Despite those obstacles

 

We could have shared those twenty years

Of Birthdays, Christmases

And sequestered movie nights

 

We could have celebrated those twenty years

Surrounded by real friends

Who welcomed our truth

 

We could have prevented those twenty years

Of deprived and troubled hearts

And living with regret

 

We could have been authentic those twenty years

With both our better selves

And with those we love

 

It could have been you and me those twenty years

Fighting against a world locked

To those without keys

 

We could have accomplished much those twenty years

And worn our battle scars proudly

Marching hand-in-hand each June

 

Yet, for those twenty years I have never blamed you

I understand your choice wore heavy

And I trusted your truest heart

 

Alas, we must own those twenty years of secret pain

But I swear to you without rancor

I will love you for twenty more

Thanks for reading.
Copyright © 2022 Headstall; All Rights Reserved.
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Thanks for reading.
Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

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Headstall
  • Popular Comment
On 9/9/2022 at 1:36 PM, northie said:

This is the story of your unique pain. It is also a pain shared by so many individuals over the years whom circumstances have forced to travel down unwanted paths. Thank you, Gary, for both these poems. For the personal journeys now shared.

I expect many can relate to this one. This time period was almost impossible to navigate for our like. The pressure to be someone 'acceptable' was enormous, within families and within society. But, that old saying is true... Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all. Not sure it applies as much to the first poem, though. :) 

Thank you, northie... your thoughts are always welcomed. Cheers! :hug: 

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Headstall
On 9/10/2022 at 8:55 AM, Valkyrie said:

What Adi said.  I don't have anything to add to what's already been said by all the other commenters.  Another well-written, emotional piece.  I really enjoyed it.  Thank you for sharing such personal and heart-felt poetry as part of the anthology :hug: 

I was happy to share these poems as part of the Anthology. The Anthology spurred me to write again, and I am thankful for the motivation. Happy to hear you liked these offerings... they are deeply personal for sure. Thank you, Val! Cheers! :hug: 

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Headstall
17 hours ago, spike382 said:

I think this rings true for far too many of us.  It's regrettable for me, because I have a hard time now looking back on the time I was with the man I was in love with.  Mostly cause of how it ended.  That being said this was beautiful.  

Thank you, spikey. Love, and the memories we have for it, are often bittersweet. I'm sure many readers understood this poem on a personal level. Life has a way of intervening, and we are often left alone, our dreams in pieces, yet our love still strong and resolute. There is beauty in that, I think. Keeping love alive in the corners of our hearts make us who we are, so in that respect, we haven't lost it. 

I wax poetic, but this poem is a tribute to something enduring and still remembered as real and strong. Cheers, my friend. :hug:  

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Headstall
2 hours ago, Dan South said:

“…Fighting against a world locked

To those without keys…”

I’m still stuck reading this bit of perspective over and over after sitting with the world that was shared here.

I feel grateful to have visited and thankful they didn’t stay.

Powerful.

Thank you so much, Dan! You quote my favorite lines here... and that is how I felt back then, that the world didn't allow us access. We were outsiders, forced to make life-altering decisions we had to convince ourselves were right, but knowing deep down they weren't. It wasn't fair, no, but love has a way of holding on, even when it sees no light. :) I'm pleased you found this poem powerful... that means a lot to me. Cheers! :hug: 

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lomax61

Heavens, Gary. You certainly know how to dig the emotional depths. I have no doubt this will resonate with everyone. There's a deep sadness in knowing a person loves another but, for one reason or another, they are unable to be together. And I love that your poem expresses this kind of emotion so succinctly. I could write pages and pages of prose and would still not touch the same depth of emotion. Great job.

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Headstall
7 hours ago, lomax61 said:

Heavens, Gary. You certainly know how to dig the emotional depths. I have no doubt this will resonate with everyone. There's a deep sadness in knowing a person loves another but, for one reason or another, they are unable to be together. And I love that your poem expresses this kind of emotion so succinctly. I could write pages and pages of prose and would still not touch the same depth of emotion. Great job.

Thanks, Brian. This is some very nice validation for me. Another personal one, it speaks of a love that still, and will always, reside in the corners of my heart. Yes, it is definitely sad, but acceptance has allowed me to keep the memories sweet. There are moments I lose myself in them, and as it says in the poem, there is no rancor. Those were tough, unfair times, but I was able to find my periods of happiness. Thank you for the kind words... they mean a lot to someone who had lost their confidence. Cheers! :hug: 

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