The Poignant Consequence Of A Love, Ignored Poem by Maurice Harris

You said that you love me, yet you do not know me;
You said that you love me-so, why do you not show me?
I wonder what your thoughts tell you now when no one is there! ?
Perhaps you may wonder why it is that I even care,
After you so unceremoniously discarded me with nary a second thought.
Perhaps you are ignorant now of all the dreams you sought
So long, and shared with me-it is not like you to give up;
I know who I am, and I know that I most certainly live up
To the man you need, it is you that shutters with fear
Of ghosts that haunt you-though, the reasons are not clear.
'What if...? ' should never be more important than what is,
And fear should never lead your actions, but is.
You show so much bravery and conviction in all you do,
But somehow only unto thine own self you have not remained true:
You do not fashion your want and needs, they fashion you.
You cannot simply ignore them, not when you possess this passion, to
Become who you know you can be-we are not 'unreal';
You cannot have this ardor and simply choose to unfeel
It-it defines who you are in so many ways.
Whether I am in your life, there are sure to be many days
Where these thoughts linger with you, and you begin to doubt
The wisdom of the decision to first seek your love, then cast it out-
As though the risks are not far outweighed by the rewards.
Alas, you now run away from the love that once ran towards:
Out of a sense duty to an ignorance that is assumed,
You now pretend, that a love that once consumed
You, does not exist and your life is not prime
For the glory of this fervor, sublime.
Instead, you pretend as though, your happiness does not matter;
You have allowed the reality you know exists, to scatter
From the realm of plausibility, to that of a love, lost.
Have you ever stopped to consider the cost
Of continued subjugation of you own hopes and dreams! ?
A heart withers if kept from that which it esteems
More than all else-a haven for both its guard and sustenance.
This is the reality of your loss-its poignant consequence!

-Maurice Harris,31 May 2012