Our Ifs, Ands or Buts

A Poem by J.A. Stevens

a tale of crisis

Our Ifs, Ands or Buts
By: J. A. Stevens

But what of it? What of the crippling conscience
Pangs and the inner hell of painfully knowing
That someone truly wonderful is hurting because
Of my wrath and insensitivity? Unintentional
It may have been but does that make it better
Or worse? I can’t say.

And what of feelings? Do they really change
So easily? Or, was there an underlying and unseen
Fault line, building up pressure, silently waiting
To erupt in this earthquake of emotional chaos
And tectonic turmoil that has so dreadfully fissured
The land of our lives? I don’t’ know.

If so then. What now? Do we rebuild the infrastructure
Of fondness and affinity that has served us so well?
Or, do we let fall to ruin the form and structure
Of love that we have built up during a lifetime of
Kindly generosity, respectful admiration and
True companionship? I hope not.

Our lives will go on. But, will they be the same?
And, if not, how do we somehow manage to live
Without the part of ourselves that was the other?
I wonder.

(22 lines)