Gleaning
His precipitous departure and subsequent defection
belied earlier avowals of his most sincere affection.
As usual, his action in doing so was heartless—
his cruel revelation of his apathy most artless.
The opposite of nuance, he was blatant to the bone
as he crassly left her weeping to hit the road alone.
Doing her a favor, for he left the door ajar
for another suitor who had loved her from afar
from the time that they were children, but who had never spoken
who now seized this opportunity by handing her a token
that all of his affection he hoped he might expose:
a declaration of his love— single long-stemmed rose.
Carefully, he’d trimmed each thorn, then ringed the single stem
with his mother’s engagement ring—a brilliant diamond gem.
And so her recent heartbreak of being the one left
gave way to an elation so she felt much less bereft.
For unbeknownst to him, she had always felt the same,
although she had not shown it, for she feared the shame
of unrequited love if she had revealed how she felt,
but when she saw his token, her heart began to melt.
And so they were soon married and the day their son was born,
her former love crested the hill, tattered and forlorn
to try to win the love back that he’d cast away so breezily,
only to find abandoned love was not won back so easily.
We learn from all life’s errors, both our own and those of others,
so I want to share this wisdom with my sisters and my brothers.
The moral of the story is be careful what you toss,
for a more farsighted lover may glean profit from your loss.
Prompt words today are nuance, subsequent, revealing, precipitous and heartless.
Glean: to gather leftover grain or other produce after a harvest.
Very good advice Judy.
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What a beautiful love story and great advice mixed into great poetry. Well done, Judy.
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Thanks, Mason.
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You’re welcome.
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Oh Wow~!! You have Super in your tank this week, and hitting on all eight cylinders Judy~! This could almost be a whole book in less than 30 lines~! You could publish it like you do your children’s books with a real photo between each verse and that rose on the front cover, and a wilted one with many thorns on the back. This is definitely going into my keeper file… I will not say “good work” because too much love and talent went into it, making it a work of art.
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Thanks, Sam, for sweet words.
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This is a great story. ❤
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You amaze me, this is wonderful!
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;o)
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