Sad Poems
Love
Everything I've Done, I've Done
Everything I've done, I've done
Only for your love.
Everything I am, I am
In hopes your heart will move.
I know that you love someone else,
But while you're away,
I'll love you just as though our love
Would last till you are grey.
Till you and I are grey, my love,
And all our days are done,
I'll love you just as I do now;
Your heart's my only home.
~ Nicholas Gordon
When Love Is an Affliction
When love is an affliction,
There's not much one can do.
Despite the way you've treated me,
I'm still in love with you.
I am the wave and you the rock
Against which I must break:
Again, again the crushing jolt,
The pain I can't forsake;
Again, again the long retreat
To safety, far from shore,
And then again, I don't know why,
The long trip back for more.
Perhaps it is nostalgia for
A long uncertain glow,
Or just some hope so beautiful
I cannot let it go.
Perhaps it is the need to try
For those who must depend
On who we are and what we do,
For whom this should not end.
What evil makes you hurt me so,
What defect of the heart?
What sense there is no greater whole
Of which you are a part?
What lonely choice that only you
Be served by what you choose?
What hard, hard fear of losing what
It is a gift to lose?
I dream sometimes my waiting love
Has made you turn again.
But you care only for yourself,
And I must love in vain.
~ Nicholas Gordon
Friendship
Just as a Wave Is Lifted by the Shore
Just as a wave is lifted by the shore,
Then breaks across the slowly rising sand,
So as I watch you weep my feelings pour
Across the wash of what I understand.
I wish I could just take you in my arms
And all your pain could melt into my chest,
And all the violence of passing storms
Could pass through me and finally come to rest.
No words can set things right or presence lend
A miracle to light your darkened way,
But there is solace in a loving friend
And comfort in what I don't have to say.
Whatever circumstance you cannot bear,
Just turn to me, and you will find me there.
~ Nicholas Gordon
Misc
A Poison Tree
I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
And I water'd it in fears,
Night & morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright;
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine,
And into my garden stole
When the night had veil'd the pole:
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretch'd beneath the tree.
~ William Blake
Solitary Confinement
You laughed at my weaknesses
- so I feared to show them.
You trampled on my dreams
- so I dreamed alone.
You were too busy to listen
- so I never spoke.
You handled my secrets indiscreetly
- so I ceased to share them.
You were insensitive to my needs
- so I hid them from you.
You never seemed to understand
- so I stopped trying to communicate.
You hurt me by your indifference
- so I bled inwardly.
You wouldn't let me near you
- so I kept my distance.
You cared for my physical needs
- so my soul became impoverished.
You drove me into myself
- so now I am imprisoned.
Drunk Driver
I went to a party,
And remembered what you said.
You told me not to drink, Mom
So I had a sprite instead.
I felt proud of myself,
The way you said I would,
That I didn't drink and drive,
Though some friends said I should.
I made a healthy choice,
And your advice to me was right,
The party finally ended,
And the kids drove out of sight.
I got into my car,
Sure to get home in one piece,
I never knew what was coming, Mom
Something I expected least.
Now I'm lying on the pavement,
And I hear the policeman say,
The kid that caused this wreck was drunk,
Mom, his voice seems far away.
My own blood's all around me,
As I try hard not to cry.
I can hear the paramedic say,
This girl is going to die.
I'm sure the guy had no idea,
While he was flying high,
Because he chose to drink and drive,
Now I would have to die.
So why do people do it, Mom
Knowing that it ruins lives?
And now the pain is cutting me,
Like a hundred stabbing knives.
Tell sister not to be afraid, Mom
Tell daddy to be brave,
Put Daddy's Girl on my grave.
Someone should have taught him,
That it's wrong to drink and drive.
Maybe if his parents had,
I'd still be alive.
My breath is getting shorter, Mom
I'm getting really scared.
These are my final moments,
And I'm so unprepared.
I wish that you could hold me Mom,
As I lie here and die.
I wish that I could say, "I love you, Mom!"
Say I love you and good-bye.
~ Unknown
