Trying To Convince Myself Poem by Leria Hawkins

I will not look, I will not
No more to search in vain
I will not care, I will not
To do would be my shame

I will not scan the vacant night
Nor in the day go chasing
I will not wait with bated breathe
Be still o’ heart from racing

I will not waste a single blink
Scanning for a shadow
I will not hold to useless hope
For never has it mattered

I will not yearn, I will not
No more to count my sorrow
I will not cling, I will not
To passion that was borrowed

I will not listen to the wind
As whispers tell me lies
I will not turn the crashing waves
Into senseless sighs

I will not turn the other cheek
From lessons that I’ve learned
I will not seek to touch the flame
When clearly it has burned

I will not wish, I will not
To change the hand of fate
I will not brood, I will not
For that, it’s much too late