September 30, 2018

ACHE

It isn't something you can buy
down at the local lumber store
and it’s not something that you’ll find
stashed deep inside a dresser drawer.

Its power knows no earthly bounds
and spans all time and space,
emits no light or heat or sound
but found in every place.

And sometimes you can feel it,
like the joy when lovers kiss,
or when a pang consumes your heart
for loved ones that you miss.

Love is the greatest gift, it’s true,
and yet the greatest curse.
Of all the pain I've suffered through
a heartache is the worst.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his gods?

- The Lays of Ancient Rome

✤ ✤ ✤ ✤ ✤

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

- Lord Alfred Tennyson, In Memoriam