When We Were Young

[michaelgallatin]

In my callow youth
I said " Forsooth,
my life will be
just fine!"

I'll do well I know
and as I grow
I'll be sure to
age like wine.

It will all be sweet,
a sumptuous treat
and my wishes
will come true.

Yet now days are long,
it's a different song,
one that's
mostly blue.

Oh, lips I've kissed
but there's a twist,
it's not always
what it seems.

Time's grown cold
and I've grown old
from living in
my dreams.

For life can cheat,
it may defeat,
the house can
win the hand.

It may grow stale,
it can turn pale,
being anything
but grand.

A promise is a token,
it can be broken,
no matter
how hard we try.

It's all a show
while on we go
but inside
we both die.

Is it worth the cost
when love is lost
and the ring
becomes a sham?

And as it fades,
why the charades,
who really gives
a damn?

Deep in my heart
as we grow apart
I still feel for
what we had.

But though I'm no quitter,
the wine's turned bitter
and the taste
is mostly bad.

Yet lift a glass
my bonny lass
to the life that
we once shared.

When we were young,
a song sweetly sung
and both of us
still cared.

Michael "Life Brings Changes" Gallatin

Author's Note - Funny how fragile relationships are even if you think you're working at them and doing your best! I'm still with my wife of 36 years but it isn't the same. I have three cousins who divorced their spouses. My college roommate has been divorced not once but twice (perhaps three times as he tried to go back to his first wife only to leave her again). And I just found out the other day that my best my and his wife are "separating" for awhile. What a way to begin the new year but I hope they can "get it together". That's where this poem came from friends! So, work hard at what you have and God bless!

[johan]

You aint missed Michael, you're always here to cheer us up with your amazing nimble pen, keep at it mate I always read em.

Andrew

[jbstillwater]

Yup, so true, Mike, we all need to morph and that means change WITH our partners, not change FOR ANOTHER partner. It can be like "fine wine"

Great poem , great sentiments! Huggs-Jan

[Lisa Arnold]

::)well-done Mike, thanks for posting

enjoyed the read

[michaelgallatin]

Thanks to all of you! Glad this one got discovered.

Take care,
Mike

[rrw]

Yeah, things change whether we like it or not... but we keep going... Nice use of rhythm and rhyme.

[purplespirit]

Very meaningful poem Mike and it makes the world sigh with heavy heart at that fact. Perhaps we sometimes pay more attention to the "I" and don't cherish the "we", whether in marriage or other relationship.
It is worth struggling on this path hand in hand. Thank you! Ulla xx

[michaelgallatin]

"Perhaps we sometimes pay more attention to the "I" and don't cherish the "we", whether in marriage or other relationships."

Thank you both though I'm using part of Ulla's quote! After all we are really just animals deep down in there and the basic instinct of an animal is self preservation. We think of keeping ourselves intact before we worry about the other person. At least the vast majority of us do and it may seem selfish but it's also very human. It's often hard to "give in" and "meet somebody half way" or maybe even less than half way. We cherish our egos, it took so long to hone them to perfection. And on top of that the "I"s are often confused and muddled-up themselves and this has definitely got to affect the "we". Any relationship takes a lot of work, I tend to think marriage and raising children are the hardest two obviously. So, good luck to all of us on both!

Take care,
Mike