AS SAD AS MINE

As Sad As Mine

I guess there comes a time in life

When you turn that corner

And come face to face with yourself

And you think: How did I get here?

Where am I going? And who am I going there with?

You stop and catch your breath

And realize that no one’s watching

No one notices if you’re late or lonely

And that there are no love letters in the mailbox

Or unwritten on the keyboard.

Life has just slipped away

Hurried by like a night train

To a distant city, full of passengers

That are all asleep and do not see you

Standing in your doorway.

Today I saw a couple holding hands

And I burst into tears

I thought: I used to do that

And I looked down at my hands

And they were empty.

Today I heard a song

And I thought: I used to sing that

There was always applause and always an ovation

But now there’s no song

And no one to sing to.

Where did my life go?

What happened to the love I planned for

But never found the time for 

Or the right person or the right heart?

But there was always room for the wrong.

Tonight I sit in moonlight on the porch

Lonesome as a train whistle in the dark

I hear an owl call out: Whoo. Whoo.

And I whisper back

Who indeed? Who indeed?

Lonely lasts forever, poets tell me

There is no cure but love

And no cure for love but death

I never knew how much I needed both

Until this moment dawned.

There was a face this morning

There in the market, that caught my eye

We exchanged glances that lingered

And looked away and wandered back

And a tiny ray of something blazed up.

Could it be? I wonder now

Is there someone out there in this night

Wondering about the spark that ignited

This morning

Wondering if the face of love was mine?

I’ve turned that corner now

To the place where you come face to face

With yourself and your need and your loneliness

When all your busy life has come to a standstill

And you see hidden things that you never saw before.

Listen to that train whistle, will you?

I feel the porch tremble as the engine roars towards me

The light cuts through the darkness

And I stand up to see the lonely face of a passenger

Pressed against the window, staring, with a smile as sad as mine.

©by Voo

Oct 25, 08

11: 43 p.m.