The Loss of Love

When lust is greater than love

When hurt is too much to heal

It’s hard to stay in love,

When there’s nothing left to feel.

When the pain of holding on

Defeats the fear of letting go

That is when I realize

This love can live no more.

When memories begin to fade

When gifts become just things

With mementos thrown away

When picture frames hold nothing.

When care becomes a struggle

With fights where no one wins

When advice becomes intolerable

When patience wears thin

Then the storms break through

And hearts end up broken

Cutting words parry

Apologies remain unspoken

Then forgive is not an option

To forget is what we choose

But as time slips past us

We reflect on what we lose

Then regret fills our minds

We ask ourselves, “What if”

What if we tried harder?

Would we still feel like this?

But the mending time has passed

And the opportunity slipped away

And the love that was once before

Is now completely decayed

When lovers become strangers

When friends forget their names

This is a glimpse of love’s last battle

And the PTSD* that came.

*Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: type of anxiety disorder that develops after an extreme emotional trauma.  Many soldiers come back from war and develop PTSD; the sound of banging may cause them to have a panic attack for it may remind them of gunshots.