Like A Stone Poem by Leinad Zerimar

It began as a challenge;
A friendly wager,
To win over your heart,
With words only.

'Like a goddess you are to me, '
I said unto you,
'Come down in a form most elegant,
Most beautiful;
Voice of the sky,
Radiance of the stars,
Hued like an angel;
A soul of great power;
Fire and fury, mixed with compassion and grace.'

A hardness there was,
But also softness, I knew.
The challenge was lost,
But somehow, won too.
Shallow you thought me,
Though all that I said had been true.

'Do not place me on a pedestal, '
You said unto me,
'I will not be worshiped,
I am no goddess,
I am no saint,
I do not want to be held so high.'

The reply I held inside,
I never did say:
'You were never a place ON the pedestal;
You ARE the pedestal,
Upon which rests my most treasured possession:
My heart.'

But, those words went unspoken;
In fear and regret.
They filled my soul with doubt;
Deprived me of courage;
So, I never spoke out.

In darkness do I now dwell;
The pedestal gone,
The heart laid upon it rendered to dust.
Though I grip with my hands,
And clench to my chest;
White-knuckled memories;
I hold only emptiness.

In darkness do I now dwell;
In your heart, I long to be,
But there I cannot go,
So I will wait for you here,
Like a stone.