BLACKBIRD

For years I wandered aimlessly

up and down,

past all the pretty cottages

in the town

where happy people lived.

Oh, how I dreamed,

when I was on the outside

looking in,

that one day I would live,

like them, within.

I found a blackbird heart.

We loved each other true.

But, unused to being cherished,

knew not what to do

with all the feelings we kept

locked inside

through all the fear we tried

so hard to hide.

"And now you're inside

looking out", he said,

and it was true -

the cornerstone of my free spirit,

trapped and full of rue.
He could not say

the words to make me stay.

So I took my broken heart

and walked away.

for Mary's prompt at What's Going On: The Unspoken

In the early 80's, I met the man who was The One. But we had five teenagers between us, who made it difficult to be together, as they were unhappy with the changes we caused in their lives. Because the kids were unhappy, and because he could not make the commitment I needed to feel secure in the relationship, and didn't know how to ask for it, I left. Within the next year or two, the older kids were gone anyway. I regret I didn't have the courage to stay. Yet it wasn't long until I flew up over the mountains and landed by the sea, so that was the soul journey that was meant to be.