Barren My desperate longing for love Though hateful to me, it remains I wish I could rise above This tedious life and its pains My lofty dreams destroyed now Life has a way of doing that And leaving me shaken, wondering how Mountains of hope have fallen so flat Life, love, and the promise of marriage I once grasped within my hand So long ago I rode that high carriage Now forsaken I stumble on the land By my suffering I myself define Before I could not understand The pain and loss makes vision fine Clearly I see now, past pleasures banned Worse than a death, she yet lives None of those precious feelings remain inside Though we both still exist, unchanged It was our strong love that had died Once I thought only love was needed People needed only each other to survive Doubts and fears I should have heeded Now so lonely, just to live I strive Love means pain and suffering to me To submit to it again I fear My only love threatened to undo me True happiness forever seemed so near (c)2001 by Robert H. Harrison