So Long

Do you have to have felt something to write about it? I hope not.

Poets have written incredible poems about death, and very few of them were postmortems. Authors have written amazing sonnets of the stars, but none of them had been to them; unless Neil Armstrong's '--one giant leap for mankind--' counts as poetry. Also, to quote some guy named Rumi: 'Poetry can be dangerous, especially beautiful poetry, because it gives the illusion of having had the experience without actually going through it.'

So poetry seems to be founded in writing powerfully about something that has never happened to you, which allows you to apply to it a fantastic element it would otherwise be harder to add if you'd actually been to the moon, instead of just looking at it.

All this to say, please don't discount the fact that I've written a love poem even though I have never fallen in love. I do have great experience with familial love, to siblings, parents, friends, etc., but the different love that comes with two unrelated people I have yet to discover. I hope I wasn't too far off the mark with what is written below, and hope that those of you who have experienced true love will comment and tell me how I did.

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The one I cannot live without asks this,

‘Will ‘So long’ be two words I ever hear?

Could you leave me without another kiss?

Go, vanish, love me no more as I fear?’

‘Will your love for me wither up and die,

And if not can it stand the test of time?

How long can this love last ‘tween you and I,

How long can we keep reason paired with rhyme?’

Before I say a word I draw her near

Into my arm as I so love to do

Then after my reply has become clear

I tell her just how long I’ll love her true

So long as stars shine high above us all,

And this earth spins beneath us constantly

So long as wind can blow and rain can fall

And while there still is salt within the sea

So long as the sun rises in the east,

And sets behind the west horizon line

So long as all this goes on un-decreased,

My love for you will outlast even time

So long as day breaks after every night,

And sunlight warms us walking hand in hand

So long as the moon shines above us bright,

And waves still break upon the golden sand

So long as the sun rises in the east,

And sets behind the west horizon line

So long as all this goes on un-decreased,

My love for you will outlast even time

So long as people fight for what is theirs,

And nothing worth acquiring comes with ease

So long as answers come to heartfelt prayers,

And people do what’s right, not what will please

So long as the sun rises in the east,

And sets behind the west horizon line

So long as all this goes on un-decreased,

My love for you will outlast even time

So long as I can rise above defeat,

And when you need me be there firm and strong

So long as I draw breath and my heart beats,

And even after both of those are gone

So long as nothing heals like joyous grief,

And all the truest lovers say ‘I do’

My dear it is my firmly held belief,

So long as that goes on I will love you