The Garden Of Tears

He practiced disdain for mankind. Never giving himself to another. Closed away his heart and mind.

 

Near the road a cemetery bloomed

in the ancient noon day light

An old man stood to his task

of tending graves each night

 

He had spent his youth working

too afraid to spend emotion

Took all he could from everyone

but gave no love to the devotion

 

Romance was not his forte

he practiced disdain for mankind

Hardly giving love to another

closed away his heart and mind

 

Thinking life to be a race

he had pushed his way along

Took from the world no pleasure

he whistled but heard no song

 

Now retired and long lived

he thought himself to be paid

To have outlived all the others

was reward for plans he'd made

 

As he looked to stones he tended

for all those he'd known in life

An old dream ached in his chest

for words written to his wife

 

She had once been his true love

the only one he had known

Lost to another in his youth

he was aged, but never grown

 

Now his tears water her grave

stones of family, oh so few

The dreams of lost love fading

wonders of life he never knew

 

Called to rest some time ago

he lies cold among his peers

A shadow on winter's night

walks the graveyard of his tears

 

 

Author's Note

What is a life for? If we cower from truly living are the extra years truly living?

Reviews

[Wolfe Greytome]

This is an amazingly written piece.

[The Wave]

Oh how I fear to live a life unlived...
This piece holds such deep sorrow in the words. Very emotion filled.
It is extremely well written and seem to come alive as I read along.

"Thinking life to be a race
he had pushed his way along
Took from the world no pleasure
he whistled but heard no song"

That's my favorite stanza. Overall, great flow and story.
Good job.

[Sean M. Addams]

a very deep but well written piece ... overall i thought you did a wonderful job on this...keep up the great writes..

[The Last Poetic King]

I enjoyed this piece, it was very good. I think if you haven't yet got published. Then it will be difficult for others to do what you have yet to accomplish. Yet if you did, then I am defiantly looking forward to the day where I achieve something so great, as you did. Nice work.

[Cassandra D.]

I can see how you called a cemetery a garden.
This has to be my favorite poem.
But then again, I can't decide.

[little lily Bride of Ch..]

So sad but once again a Beautiful Romance write again

[MusicJunkie66]

This was very emotional. I loved the line "he whistled but heard no song". Totally brilliant!!!

[Lilly]

There are so many beautiful lines in this - I love the 3rd 4th and 8th stanzas. Amazing poem.

[Charles]

Not quite as smooth (meter-wise) as some of your others, but perfectly appropruate language for the setting and theme. I like least the seventh stanza for two reasons. She was his first love - the only one he ever knew... of course, we can only have a first love once (I think you mean the only love, but the flow just isn't there). Then, he lost her to another in his youth and he was aged but never grown... not quite sure what that means; was he a dwarf (just kidding) or not grown in what way... he must have been fairly well grown when he loved her -oops, now you've got me looking back to she if 'she' could be his mother - oh well. I don't think you should tolerate the grammatical error in the 8th stanza *had grew') even to force the rhyme. The last stanza is a great closing, though winters deserves an apostrophe. All in all, well done.

[Tina Kline]

Haunting and sad, a perfect picture you picked for this poem.