The Heart is a Home-
The lonely heart beats for itself,
echoing empty words, a last refrain;
words that reverberate against these walls
and fall against the spotted windowpane.
We who have loved and lived too much,
can now see the error of our ways;
we sleep alone, yet fitfully now,
and count our blessings with our days.
If I say it loud and long enough,
the words will echo from below and above;
and I know I mean it when I say,
I don’t want to be in love.
We all too often look for answers
without knowing what we want to ask;
We allow others to make us over
and then take ourselves to task.
We fool ourselves: we’re all fools,
looking for ourselves in another’s eyes;
We are afraid to look in the mirror,
for what we see we might despise.
We think by loving we can take to flight;
we look for wind to lift us from above,
and I think I mean it when I say,
I don’t want to be in love.
Our body can be but its own prison,
holding in a soul that wants release;
we are both the jailor and the jailed,
preventing the spirit from finding peace.
Parched, we wander the desert of our lives,
any oasis we carelessly walk around;
we prefer to chase a faint mirage,
than drink water from where it’s found.
We lie to ourselves more than to others;
we look ahead when we should look above.
I’m not sure any more about much of anything,
but that perhaps I do want to be in love.
ABOUT THE POET: The Heart Is A Home
John RC Potter is an international educator from Canada, living in Istanbul. Recent prose publications include “Letter from Istanbul” (The Montreal Review) & “A Day in May 1965” (Erato Magazine); recent poetry publications include “From Vaisler Brothers to Tel Aviv” (New English Review”) & “Chiaroscuro” (Strangers and Karma Magazine). The author’s story, “Ruth’s World” (Fiction on the Web) was a Pushcart Prize nominee.
Website: https://johnrcpotterauthor.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnRCPotter
Instagram: John RC Potter (@jp_ist)
