Tune the Guitar of Sorrow

small edit 3/22/2021

You bought a 

guitar tuner 

for my birthday

saying it was 

something I 

desperately needed.

I faked a gracious reaction

-you didn't know the 

pain it preceded.

But your optimism 

amazed me

you're a caged sparrow 

just waiting to fly

So my calloused hand 

opened to receive it

as splinters welled 

up in my eyes.

Gently my eyelids 

slid closed

and the chords hit 

that familiar sound.

With crumpled brow 

I began a lost tune

and darkness fell 

all around

Ever so slowly 

you melted away

my hands younger 

like years before

and there 

standing in my doorway

my lost love stood 

humming once more.

I sang with 

bridled passion

suppressed by 

all the tears

strumming with 

no style or fashion,

remembering the 

lonely past years.

When I faded the last 

somber lyrics

my eyelids flew open 

only to see

my age, 

an empty doorway

and heartbreak,

then your smiling face 

gazing upon me.

I thanked you for

the memory

and the brief 

rekindling of 

my youth,

But to say it was 

something 

I needed,

was the 

farthest thing 

from the truth.

November 05, 2004