If Only You Want To Be Mine Poem by Gert Strydom

Will I remember you voice,
when silence has come to all your words?

Will I recall your face,
your lovely inquisitive gaze
when age has set its mark
and the look in your eyes is dark
and meaningless?

Will I yearn for the warmth of you next to me
when you can barely walk
and your body is bent crooked
by the passing of time
or will pain and utter silence destroy
that part of our love
which still does remain?

Will I remember your quick wit
when there is no more of it
and meaning has turned to senselessness?

Will you know me still
when at the doorway of death you are ill
and beat me futilely with both fists
and then wrap your arms around my neck
when in rage no answers come to you?

Or will you walk out of my life
and forget that you are my wife
and live on in emptiness
in a world without heartache and strive
while I do love you still,
do comprehend whenever you are ill
and even if others think that we are lost
I am willing to go beyond the bounds of mere will

if only you want to be mine.