Because of love

A poem I wrote quite some time ago for my dead sister, im clearing out drafts, so many drafts the critic stopped me posting 😞

I didn’t go

because of compassion

I thought you needed me to stay

I was probably mistaken

and so there were for me

many steps not taken

now I see the road not travelled

there is no way to reach

what was forsaken

then

and so I must start from here

to love the life I have been given

because this body is bruised

and nearly broken

need I punish myself more?

what I did I did for love

but love sometimes

will not save you

and yet is it not better to have loved?

Modern society.. therapy says

be selfish

live for you

but without a life lived for others too

what happens to our hearts?

may be this compassion of mine

went in the wrong direction

but I don’t think so

you saw and knew the love I gave

and love is never wasted

that was felt as a balm

I still see the look of happiness on you face

when I’d enter the home

we were at home in each other’s eyes

I know you wished for far more for me

but I was still the little girl

longing for her big sister

now that little girl and I

must find a way to live for us

but not only for us

enriching us accepting the path taken

leaving judgement behind

realising that we

are not so broken or empty

and that we have something to live for

and something to give

compassion

empathy

is not weakness

it is strength

and we are strong.