After a while [Poem]

This is a poem that my aunt's friend's son kept by his bed. He died of lukemia. I never knew him personally. My Aunt kept this poem in her her family room, and I could never take my eyes off of it when I was there.

After a While

by Veronica Shoffstall

After a while, you learn the subtle difference
Between holding a hand and chaining a soul

And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning
And company doesn’t always mean security.

And you begin to learn that kisses aren’t contracts
And presents aren’t promises

And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head up and your eyes open,
With the grace of a women, not the grief of a child.

And you learn to build all your roads on today
Because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans,
And futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight

And after a while you learn
That even sunshine burns if you get too much.

So you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul,
Instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.

And you learn

That you really can endure

That you really are strong

And you really do have worth

And you learn

And you learn

With every goodbye you learn.

I just learnt grace under defeat is noble. We all win some and lose some.

That's a great poem.

Thanks so much for taking the time to write it down and share it with us.

Originally posted by kwakakev
I just learnt grace under defeat is noble. We all win some and lose some.

That's odd that you wrote that. One of my sayings is "you win some and you lose some." I've said that for years.

Thanks for the kind comments.