When I loved before it was a choice
Railed by an amelioration arbitrary of youth
Funneled by the skylights of Inexperience made
Puerile and sweet as Hawaiian Punch with Oreos

That bastion of innocence comes once in a lifetime
Cannot fathom the heartbreak ahead when loss
Becomes a friend and time runs its course in spite
Of your crushed heart before the cannons fire through

As all those years unravel accumulate like a freight train
Railed on a febrile scale of your heart breathing in perfect
Syncopation parallel only to your ability to carry on without
Pining against the hope that love will still find you

Now my fears speak like an expatriate, expatiates the remaining
Time like an iconoclast screaming to the galaxies that love
Can find a way that it pays a price to endeavor and risk
If only for a moment – if only for a moment – I could love again.

 
© K. James Ribble