Then What? Poem by Jonathan ROBIN

When two no longer share from day to day
love set to span eternal rainbow years,
encounter prematurely hell's harsh way
when, unprepared, warmth wanes in winter's tears,
when morn lights up wan mourning heart apart,
when cold creeps irrespective of bright ray,
when what was wed is sudden torn apart,
when what was said can't be explained away,
when Past's outcast, when there's no second start,
when all horizons darken into one,
when time's conveyed on sodden tumbrel cart,
warp weft reft patterns warped, thread dead, undone,
when, where two played, one, sad, remains, cheeks grey
what then … when there is nothing more to say?

When time and tide convert joy ride to rime
when day to day withdrawal meets an empty shell,
when seasons pass without heart healed in rhyme,
when magic spell is hexxed by tocsin bell,
when life's leaves dropp from calendar ignored,
when dewdropp twin tears drip drip down unwiped,
when memory's red rims dim unrestored,
when hope's kite topsy turvy tumbles, swiped,
when effort seems enormous, dreams are stilled,
when monochrome replaces rosy tint,
when days discount ambitions unfulfilled,
when nightmares metamorphose heart to flint,
when one is left bereft of life support,
what then for sole soul caught disarmed, distraught?

When who once woke to welcome rising sun
ignores the twilight polychrome a-twinkle,
when who once echoed soul mate's fair fate spun,
cares naught for falling cobweb hair a-wrinkle.
When insights shared, warm hearts bared, take French leave
from daily humdrum's wear and tear erosion,
when Fate metes out defeat, with sleeve to grieve,
eliminates spontaneous joy's explosion,
when what once shone is gone, all trace erased
from petty pace, brief candle lost to light,
when player struts stage hour, page flower phase
hung sere upon the stage, adieu delight,
when pair dissolves, bridge partner trumped withal,
what then when there's no dare which one might call?