Growing Old

What is it to grow old?
Is it to lose the glory of the form,
The lustre of the eye?
Is it for beauty to forego her wreath?
Yes, but not for this alone.

Is it to feel our strength—
Not our bloom only, but our strength—decay?
Is it to feel each limb
Grow stiffer, every function less exact,
Each nerve more weakly strung?

Yes, this, and more! but not,
Ah, 'tis not what in youth we dreamed 'twould be!
'Tis not to have our life
Mellowed and softened as with sunset-glow,
A golden day's decline!

'Tis not to see the world
As from a height, with rapt prophetic eyes,
And heart profoundly stirred;
And weep, and feel the fulness of the past,
The years that are no more!

It is to spend long days
And not once feel that we were ever young.
It is to add, immured
In the hot prison of the present, month
To month with weary pain.

It is to suffer this,
And feel but half, and feebly, what we feel:
Deep in our hidden heart
Festers the dull remembrance of a change,
But no emotion—none.

It is—last stage of all—
When we are frozen up within, and quite
The phantom of ourselves,
To hear the world applaud the hollow ghost
Which blamed the living man.

While Waiting

Like the flowers in spring,
Like the Lady's new engagement ring,
Like a baby smiling,
Meeting you gave my life a new meaning.

Like a forest fire on a cloudy night,
Like a balloon floating so light,
Like an ice cream truck bringing delight,
Our love was an obvious sight.

Like a candy taken from a toddler,
Like having a pen yet no paper,
Like wanting to swim where there's no river,
Sadness came, am i gonna lose you forever?

Like the refreshments on a warm day,
Like the good news a after much dismay,
Like a rainbow on a Saturday,
Gladness popped in with no delay.

Like a person who just pulled a trigger,
Like a man who's had his first hangover,
Like an adopted child seeking for his birth mother,
While waiting, my Love nested on someone better.

Will you still love me even if I'm not perfect?

Will you still love me even if I'm not perfect? Will you still love me even if I'm not the kind of person you wished I were? Will you still look into my eyes with warmth even if you saw my shadows? Will you still hold my hand even if you knew there will be times I'd let you down? For though I yearn to take care of you as I should, though I desire to love you with a love that never falters and fades, my knees tremble this very moment that you hold me in your arms. Shall I kiss you? Shall I hold your hand and bask in the light of your spirit knowing that I have my darkness, knowing there will be times that the light of my love will sometimes be overshadowed by the darkness that is in me? Sometimes I'd be silent and I might bore you. I may not laugh at your jokes, and you may not understand the spell that's enshrouding me. Sometimes I'd get troubled and I'd fail to put into words what the hell it is that troubles me. I wouldn't be good company then, and I couldn't make you smile. Sometimes I'd get moody and I might not enjoy the things you'd like us to do together. Sometimes I'd lose my temper and I'd no longer act like the fine person who stands before you today. Sometimes I'd get jealous and I might say things I don't really mean. Sometimes I'd talk too much that I might drive you away. Sometimes I'd get touchy and I'd get easily hurt. And no matter how mature I try to be, at times I'd act in childish ways. I'd demand things I shouldn't, I'd say things I shouldn't say. And no matter how much I desire to protect you and make you happy, sometimes I'd be the one who'd cause you the most pain. If you will love me I cannot promise you that I will not hurt you. I cannot promise you that I will not make you cry and that I'll never break your heart. But if you will love me, I will bare my whole self naked before you, and I will reveal to you my soul. If you will love me, you can be certain that it is I that you will love, not a mask that fools you and gives you only what your eyes desire to see. If you will love me, you can be certain that you will love the depths of me, all of me that is in me, and I in turn will love you with all of me, with all my soul, with all my mind, with all my spirit, with all my flaws and beauty, and with all my very heart.