Lord Only Knows

A Poem Written 04/02/2007

Original Photo by Ross Sneddon on Unsplash | Altered by David C. Roberson

Lord Only Knows
04/02/2007
David C. Roberson

The myopic mindset 
of the chronically single,
with little regard
for love or fate,
drops the jaw
of the hopeless romantic
in their desire to patiently wait
for the perfect Prince Charming
who does not exist.
I won’t judge you for crying,
but don’t let the pipe dream persist.
There's no use in trying.
Hopelessness is my gist,
since your heart is so cold
and shrunken.

Lord knows I've tried
everything in my brain
to abstain from this feeling of loss.

Lord knows that something
you never attained
can ever truly be lost.

Discard romance fiction
in bitter defeat.
Read something bleak
as you melt in your seat.
I'm down the line
with a ticket in hand
I'm not your fairy tale figment,
just a broken down man.

Lord knows I fought
for my portion of peace
with this sense of loneliness
that robs me of sleep.

Lord knows I earned
this callous worldview.
Every hope I once held
slowly withdrew.

The day's come and gone
when I'd lay by your grave.
No, I won't be next to you
on your dying day.
Something inside me
just had to relate
to something in you,
but you sent me away.

Lord knows I tried
to wash my dirty skin
to make presentable
my blackest of sins.

They pale in comparison
to the light of my love.
Lord only knows
What I was thinkin' of.

The train it pulls in,
and I hear "All aboard!"
I hand in my ticket
while some children look bored
as they step off the car
that brought them this far,
but I'm looking around
for your face.

But you're not around,
you're at home with a book
like some kind of recluse
who hides in the nook.
Your web spirals outward
ensnaring poor things
who cannot escape
without tearing their wings.

My wings are tattered
and twitch in the wind.
I fear I shall never
quite fly right again.
Insistence abides
from my mouth as I shake.
I was never expectin'
my thirst to be slaked.

Lord knows I'm tired
old as the hills
inside my heart
with the last of my will.

Lord knows I'm weary
and hungry as a hound
though not for a bite
as that train whistle sounds.

Lord knows I yearn
for some semblance of love
Lord only knows
What I was thinkin' of.

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