Lessons

Show me how to forgive
When all that’s left is the wait,
How to live
When there’s neither pain nor faith,
But ice.

Show me how to dream
When my dove returns with no olive branches,
How to breathe
When there are no more promises,
But pride.

Show me how to be free
When I can no longer sing,
How to love
When I can hold on to nothing
But the present.

As I lean to kiss you,
I fervently wish I’d had the chance to tell you
I loved you,
I loved you all along.
I would ask you to forgive my mistakes, my pride,
To tell you my pain was worth what I learned from you.

Because you have shown me…

That I must forgive
Even when all that’s left is the wait,
That faithless, I cannot live;
Without my dreams there is nothing
But ice.

That I should wait still longer for the olive branches
Until I can be free at length;
When pride slays the promises,
I must not look at this moment,
But the next.

I kiss your cold, white forehead and grieve.