Heart Of Stone Poem by Bill Upton

Young, intense love shattered.
Most people walk away,
Check the box for 'experience'.
She did not.
The impact was immense,
The fault proved to be hers.

She had no answers,
Yet continued to carry him with her.
Years went by, other relationships appeared
And disappeared.
She revisited her first love
In her mind,
In her heart.
The feelings remained hushed,
The feelings were never revealed.

Unexpectedly, she became consumed by new love-
A strong and cherished love,
And she tried to bury her thoughts,
Suppressing old feelings,
Refusing to let them resurface
Even though they could not be forgotten.
She focused on 'to have and to hold',
Relentlessly,
Turning a section of her heart to stone.

While she was blessed with love and comfort and security,
She confronted the unthinkable,
And a life passed on.
Her cherished love was shattered
And, in her mind, was her life.
She was devoured by grief
And surrendered to the loss.

Not understanding 'why' and
Not knowing where to turn,
She noticed, one day, a letter in her mailbox.
Her first love, physically absent for a lifetime,
Again had come alive, offering words of support,
Of healing,
Of rescue.
She became, again and finally, inundated with the love
She never should have shattered.