When I Leave You
When I leave you,
It won’t be out of anger,
It won’t be out of jealousy.
It won’t be for another woman,
And it won’t be for freedom.
When I leave you,
It won’t be with grace—
It will be hard, hard to do.
I could try to fight it—
But with what power?
Taken quick or slowly,
I’ll still be taken
Out of this world,
Out of your life.
Never out of your heart,
I know—I’m planted there,
A Gibraltar till time’s end.
Yet…yet
I fear for the weight,
The heaviness on you:
All the times you’ll need
A touch, or miss my breath
On the nape of your neck.
When the stars weep,
When songbirds die,
Then, only then
Will my love be left
By your lonely side.
Do I yet know how
Much I love you?
Will my soul chant
In mourning for you?
Will it long for this world
Of night and day only
Because you are still in it?
Nolo Segundo, pen name of L.J. Carber, 74, in his 8th decade became a published poet in 55 lit mags and anthologies in the US, UK, Canada, Romania, and India; in 2020 a trade publisher released a book length collection ‘The Enormity of Existence’ and in 2021 a 2nd book, ‘Of Ether and Earth’. A retired teacher [America, Japan, Tawan, Cambodia], he has been married 41 years to a smart and beautiful woman from Taiwan.
