True Love Revisited Poem by John Thorkild Ellison

I knew an old man who was very wise,
He knew why women weep and why a baby cries,
He said that pain and despair are just a disguise
Hiding the truth and beauty from our eyes,
He didn't believe that true love dies.

So what shall we say when it does?
Shall we say that it isn't true, and make up lies
About how it lasts forever? Shall we pretend
That it is immortal, that it will not end?
Shall we believe the poets' lies?

It comes as a shock, it comes as a nasty surprise,
When true love dies,
When, after all that has happened, you realise
It was only, ever, a compromise.

You could even insist
Love's just a squirt between the thighs!

But that would be ungracious.
Better believe the poets' lies!