The break-up sonnet

Fixable. With the right key. Photo by frankh, Flickr

THE BREAK-UP

You are not right for me. So there. It’s said.
I could keep up charades, but we both know
The longer that I try to force a glow,
The closer we’ll both be to being dead —
Which means less time (I say with creeping dread)
For each of us to wander high and low
And — finding Cupid — jump him for his bow
To arrow whom we’re meant to love instead.

But then I peer into the yawning hole
Where plus-ones disappear — negated, lost —
And all my heart’s investments sink to naught:
No ring, no home, no child, no mated soul.
I’m tempted thus to disregard the cost
Of speaking less than truth, even if fraught.


Prayer #265: For Anyone Who's Ever Broken Up With Someone Else

To my God
who speaks to me with a still, small voice
who helps me hold up my end of the bargain
who governs all love, be it found, lost, or yet unknown --

I ask You
to forgive me for hurting another person
to hug me tight as I relive every prior break-up through the lens of the latest
to help me resist the temptation to seek comfort from the one other person I know is grieving the same loss I am
to give me the courage to keep seeking

to keep hoping
to keep trusting
to keep loving

to pray the prayer I feel selfish praying
but is not selfish at all
because You have placed it in my heart.

Amen.