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I need to put more poetry on my profile page.

I was reading this one to my wife today.

“If you must, then sit beside me....
Tell me, why have I been weeping?” -- Dorothy Parker

Why Have I Been Weeping?

I see the faces in the park, and each one tells a story,
Some bitter from the striving, some faded with their glory.
Some look out on the park and see the life inside them,
And some have hurts upon their face with nowhere else to hide them.

A comely matron passes by, her pride protects her pain,
She doesn’t seem to notice that her smile is showing strain.
A pair of schoolgirls next are seen, and giggle as they pass,
I hope their laughter will grow up when laddy meets his lass.

An old man sits near dozing with the sun upon his face,
I know that in his mind he is no longer near this place.
Instead he walks with hand about the love that he once held,
And now he sits with frozen smile where happiness has gelled.

A woman looks into my eyes, a question seems to rise,
Although her lips say nothing it is clearly in her eyes.
“Oh, stranger, do you know the pain I’m feeling in my heart?
Can you tell why I’ve been weeping? Do you know what made me start?”

I only know the answer to a question still unasked,
For it is the answer always for the way we have been tasked.
The answer is to love someone, though someone brought you pain,
Even though you’re hurting now, you still must love again.

For love is still the answer to the way to get through life,
And it doesn’t matter if you fail, or if you live in strife.
You must share your pain and loneliness, and laugh it all away,
And you’ll find that pain is ebbing as love’s tide flows in today.

Step out of the shadow of the pain that brought you grief,
And hold a child, and see her smile, and you will feel relief.
No matter how you’re hurting, and no matter what you’ve lost,
There’s even more to be received, with negligible cost.

Your life has many turnings, at the end you may look back,
And though you know you lost something, there’s nothing that you lack.
The life that seemed so shattered has been made into a whole,
And your audience applauds you for your stunning, starring role.

NicknamedBob . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . April 19, 2004