Destiny At Times Is Changed By Love Poem by Gert Strydom

The way that life goes,
destiny at times
is changed by love
sometimes by lust
and at times
bring the change on by itself.

A poetess read the poems
of a poet at university
and his poems were alive
with something great
in the words,

while the editor saw her verses
in a negative way
and she was set
to meet him, to talk to him
at a party
which he attended with another girl.

Some call it love, others a thrill
but there she got him
under her spell
and they kissed
while they danced
in a sudden romance,
she left a mark on his neck
and he retained a ring from her ear.

Some called both lucky, happy
and great poets they were
but destiny dealt the cards,
brought separation by mental illness
and the world held him responsible
for not staying true

and in his poems
I see something of his soul
and wonder if in the same
circumstance set,
I wouldn’t have acted
just as he did?