Time

Time, they say, will heal all wounds.
Do not believe this vicious lie.
Ignore your grief, or mask the pain,
and Time will not apply a salve,
but rather cause a fest'ring growth,
like cancer, on your aching heart.

Permit yourself to grieve your loss.
Allow yourself to cry and weep.
Do not hold back the flood of tears.
Do not deny the empty moods,
the pain, the anger, nor the hate;
for they will come, make no mistake.

Permit yourself to live your life.
Allow yourself to laugh and smile.
For though your loved one's life is done,
Your life is not, and you must live;
if only to preserve the mem'ry of
their precious words or thoughts or smile.

For few will care to think upon
the loss you feel with aching pain
and few will care to look upon
the hole within your aching heart,
And life will simply carry on
while leaving you alone in pain.

And when sufficient time has passed
You'll not forget your love or pain,
but simply compartmentalize
and file away the memory-book
upon a shelf within your mind;
there to wait for you to choose
to feel the love, the joy or pain.