And the Joke was on Me


People impact on one's life
whether or not they knew it.
That's how life plays its joke.

You,
while not a joke per se,
is life's offering
which i accepted.

Either to my detriment or my development... that depends.
Whether it will make me laugh or grieve in the end...that depends.
Will I turn up hated or loved...that depends.

What matters now, at this moment
is that i received you
and the sun rises
and the sun sets
the force of that impact is still found in there...thriving, breathing, pulsating.
without this, will i ever be whole again?

i have embraced the knowledge
that nothing stays forever
and the joke played on me by life
has not only broken my resolve
but has torn me apart
ahh will i ever be whole again?

will i give up now
or let the joke remain
and when i finally do give it up
will i ever be whole again?

will the joke stay with me
or the imprint on this life be shattered too
people impact on someone else's life
or do they really know what you go through

the joke continues saying
you don't belong to my world
and i am alien to yours
like parallel lines on the horizon
in sync, but apart, of course.

furtive glances thrown our way
will remain as that, till someone pays
hush, who'll keep it in confidence
lest, i ask, or you'll say, will i be whole again?

who'll catch me at the end of my story?.
You? Me? None!
for that's how life sports its tale
i'd say
when the joke's been played on me
whole again, will life let me be?

Copyright © 2010 by CrissVillanueva Arabis
2009.12.19 criss

PASSING TIME

by Maya Angelou

Your skin like
dawn

Mine like musk
One paints the
beginning

of a certain end.
The other,

the end of a sure beginning.