Vanishing Point.......Down On Love Poem by John Tansey

I

Everyone has a breaking point;
where you can no longer stem the tide
of emotion. And tears collide,
reluctantly, like condensation on glass
which you have to smash just to continue on...

If you can resign yourself to this sadness
that is your lifes' sentence:

That all life is longing
and hope is for the hopeless,
and reduce your expectations
to the mere sustenance of food and drink.

Then life turns a hollow defense
and you can, loveless, live alone...


II

But that revelation comes the moment after
the relief you thought you saw,
the probation you waited for,
that was nothing, but a momentary pleasure
of someone who has left you lonelier
than a barn owl, holed up, in a musty loft
some borrowed garret, a rented room
or shoebox to sleep in...