Donna

My friends would never leave her be each passed and gave her a wink One could see, it was not to be it was driving me to drink.

Donna at 40

She was so stunning in her youth

my breath ran short when we met

She caught my eye, and with a sigh

had left me in a cold sweat

__________________

I pursued her relentlessly

'til finally she gave in

A beautiful mind,what a find

a cross of beauty and sin

_________________

My friends would never leave her be

each passed by her with a wink

One could see, it was not to be

it was driving me to drink

_________________

Adoration grew in my chest

but time told a different tale

We had distressed, what beauty blessed

as in time our love grew stale

_________________

"You're too much woman to be fair

I can see that now so clear

Such beauty's rare, a cross to bear

I have to let go my dear"

____________________

We're  beauty for a fleeting day

that fades with the loss of youth

Forget and may, upon us weigh

the merciless pains of truth

Author's Note

I was Donna's friend many years after that.When we broke up I had injured myself so badly I wondered if I would recover. We met now and then in Louisville where I once raced and called my home. I remember telling her that children would help her in old age. But to her defense she was so intoxicating at 21, I wouldn't have listened to me either. She had lost her boyfriend when I last met her at 40 and had no children. Still beautiful but injured like the first time you make a child cry. Her own parents were very old by then. My heart bled for her. For truth be known I had loved her since the day we met. That was 10 years ago. I haven't heard from her but once since. Yet fresh in my mind as if yesterday I remember her wounded. How it cut me so deep I cried! Hers was the eternal beauty of Cleopatra, both inward and outward her light shone bright. I had been blessed to be her friend.
I adored her father and mother as well. It was easy to see where her beauty came from.

Reviews

[David Lewis Paget]

It takes courage to renounce the thing you want most. I doubt if I could have done it, Tate, which necessarily meant that in my life, I was the one left, never the one to leave. You had the foresight to avoid the pain of future indiscretions, though you didn't get off scot free. There is always the needle of nostalgia to aggravate the wound.

[Marie]

Beauty fades and so does youth, and you can't really count on your children or your friends...any future you build is, at best, a chance...I was luckier than Donna, but that's all it was. Just luck.

[Tate Morgan]

I didnt have much of a family so I built my own grabed a kid from here and there took in every stray .But whan I had TATERTOT I wrote his name on his foot with a sharpie.I then told the scowling nurse from over the cookoos nest She had best not mixing my son with any other in the baby room lo.She looked at me and scowled in murderers pain.So In my usual tempo I said It is not my fault you long for children and cant have them .Dont take that out on my child.She stared at me and said how did you know that.Well no rings two days here and you aren't married no pictures of children in your office, However if you treat mine well you can spend time with him here she smiled

[Marie]

Your family sounds pretty nice to me.

[quinfinn]

it is a wise man who can see the futility through the beauty and have the courage to act upon his beliefs instead of his desires. i have always been attracted to the very beautiful women of the world, but i am never so attracted as to lose my heart and mind to a rose, frozen in time....this poem is awesome, and a brilliant homage to a love and a lifelong friend, whose dreams never came to fruition because she , herself, was a beautiful dream. well done!

[Tate Morgan]

beliefs verses desires. It was a tough thing to do.I dont know where the courage came from to let go of her I am glad i found it though

[Baby Ricochet]

Another great piece bro.

[Tate Morgan]

Thank you RIc Sometimes i cant even manage-my own affairs usually

[Sheila Kline]

It is so difficult to know when to walk away and there are those who are unable to leave even when they accept that by staying they will undoubtedly get hurt in the end, so I admire you for being able to make and follow through with such a difficult and apparent heart breaking decision to move on!! Today you are so very happy so I am sure in the circle of life, you are pleased you have, though you still think of her, and lament for the pain she has endured because of her beauty, personality, etc. - added with her life choices. Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder, and outward beauty is hopefully never as important to one as the beauty of the heart!
Donna is sadly one who paid a very high price of the outward portrait!!
A very touching write which shall hopefully make each of us who reads it, realize the value of who one is on the inside!!

[Tate Morgan]

Thank You A sharp knife cuts the quickest and hurts the least .If that adadge is true I would not have survived a procrastinated separation.

[David Scott]

I'm not sure a woman would read this with the same appreciation for the truth revealed in this write. It is more about the heart if a man than the woman who is the subject...
Thank you for being do transparent in your poetry!
The form was only an added bonus to this reflection on the human condition...
You never disappoint Tate!

[Tate Morgan]

Thank you Transparency is how i write .I share truth and I dont hide it.The blames are my own and i shall have to bear them

[SoulCrusader (Yas)]

Greatly told, and true how things happen and turn out,
just gotta be there for people we care for esp deserving ones...

[Tate Morgan]

I broke upo with her and many times felt it had been a mistake.However As time went on we made the best of friends I lost but I also gained

[John Stussy]

Damn man, this was a cutting tale of heartbreak on both parts that you wove. I feel bad for the both of you. It seems like you acted honorably by stepping away to give her her freedom, but at the same time you could have been what had saved her. I can't imagine what you feel when reflecting on this, and I don't think anyone would blame you for weeping for her. Excellent poem Tate.

[Tate Morgan]

I think I made the right decision However I can dream and she is a part of that held in the back of my mind as the road less taken

[Emunah June.]

What beautiful words that mend such a tragic tale...Im sorry about your friend Tate, hope all is well with her.

[Tate Morgan]

So do I So do I I need to find her again and see if she has made it to a contentment we all wish we had

[Ken Simm.]

A conversation of experience and experiences. I think it works extremely well in this sort of format. Tells a real story.

[Tate Morgan]

Thanks I had a dream the other day and the poem came from the dream.The dream was replaying my younger years and bringing out the memories I held so dear

[KAOlmsted]

Nice one, Tate. Thanks for sharing this with us.

[Tate Morgan]

Thank you k

[KAOlmsted]

Always my pleasure.