All The Love I Have Ever Known

All the love I have ever known

is the love that I gave to you,

a fruitless seed that I have sown

from which no blossoms ever grew.

 

I loved you deeper than the night

and loved you brighter than the day.

I was the string; you were the kite.

I fell as you were blown away.

 

A cold rain splashed upon the ground.

I drowned in pools of endless woe.

You had love that was not unfound!

Love was something you could not show.

 

I planted all my dreams midair.

I found heaven inside of you,

but love and life are most unfair.

A happy ending will not do.

 

The branches fall; the willows weep.

A teardrop falls upon the moon.

I think of you before I sleep

and pray the morning finds me soon.

 

All the love I have ever known

is no more I am sad to say.

My heart has hardened into stone,

and I no longer love that way.

Author's Note

Reviews

[FGFRANKLIN]

"love and life are most unfair" That speaks volumes in and of itself. But I don't think of either as "fair" or "unfair" but rather "indifferent". Death doesn't care who you are or what you have or who you know. It's all going to be taken away, all of it. Love is all about the giving and defined by the giving of it. It can't be "unfair" but because it has no expectations to live up to. Love that requires anything isn't love at all but a "trade". Shakespeare knew it. He wrote, "Love is not love which alters when it, alteration finds." But people continue to have expectations and people keep wanting to believe they can somehow cheat death through memorial. Shelley portrays a great man's effort at that in "Ozymandias". The ending of that poem is like the ending of love and life; eventually just drifting forgotten sands through the hourglass of time.

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Thank you so much, Fabian.

[James Mckay]

Beautifully written and heart-felt. It was as if I was there as you felt it all. You can surely close your eyes and envision it.

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Thank you, James. I appreciate your review.

[Ken Simm.]

Do loves that are meant to be ever have happy endings. Not been my experience. But been where you have and experienced all this. Which for me as a reader are the hallmarks of a great love poem. The fact that I recognise it all.

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Thank you, dear Ken.

[Chris Shaw]

So much loss felt in this write. Your metaphors are wonderful Linda. Another fine poetic offering from your hugely talented pen. Unreciprocated love sucks. Been there too.

Chris

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Thank you, Chris. Life is hard. Love can be even harder.

[John the Baptist]

It happens sometimes that one partner in a relationship comes to feel that love freely given is not being reciprocated. If this situation is not somehow rectified, the relationship is doomed. That sounds like what has happened here. And if the partner on the short end of the stick has invested everything in the partnership, there will be bitterness. That also sounds like what has happened here.

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Thank you, John. Sometimes, when the fruit is sour, one can't help but make a funny face. :)

[willweb]

"A teardrop falls upon the moon" Love is such a funny thing, to some. it is the world and the moon. To others it is something to take for granted. It is sad when one meets the other. One gives their all as the other takes. Your poem expresses this beautifully and once again it is amazing.

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Thank you, dear friend, for understanding. :)

[Patricia Wedel]

The line.. “I planted all
My Dreams Mid-air”.. reminds me of Barbara Streisand singing “and me in Mid-Air”.. one of my favorite Songs… Bring in the Clowns”. Gently, Pat

[Vol]

A loss like that is not unlike a near-death experience, you've left all you are behind and the skeleton who remains is nothing more than a frame to hang a new you on... When it happened to me, I did not get angry... I cried. I cried on people till their clothes were wet, I left traces of snot everywhere, and did not apologize. There are chemicals in tears that, when released, sooth the pain. And have since found the love of my life. Don't put your heart in prison where it can feed on bitterness and grow a stony heart, There is enough joy out there, but only if you wait for it.

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Thank you, Vol. I am glad that you found love and happiness.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, love and life are not fair.
Dreams planted in midair might touch heaven for a spell, but then fall hard to the ground.
There is such a sadness to your writing in recent days, but the poetry
is amazing.
j.

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Thank you, Jacob. I have been greatly affected over the last two weeks by someone's suicide. It has definitely saddened my spirit.

[Lorry]

We have all known an unrequited love. It seems to be the one regret we all have in common.
But we never get to see the other side of the coin and find out if they ever regretted their choices or think of us as fondly as we think of them. We do however have the pain those choices cost us to remember them with.
Beautifully written piece from the heart they hardened.

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Thank you, Lorry. Unfortunately, this was not a road travelled once. This was with someone that was in and out of my life multiples times over the years. While he professed his regret, his love, his 'looking for me in others,' etc., his actions were not the same.