YOU
In the depths of my heart’s sorrow,
A love unrequited, a painful echo,
I yearned for your touch, your sweet embrace,
Yet I dwelled in the shadows, unseen, misplaced.
Each beat of my heart sang your name,
But you remained oblivious, unaware of my flame,
I offered you my love, my very soul,
Yet you never saw me, never made me whole.
I lived in a world where you were the sun,
But I was just a fleeting shadow, undone,
My heart ached with the weight of this truth,
That my love for you was destined for ruth.
I sang melodies of love in silent despair,
As tears fell like rain, my soul laid bare,
For I knew deep within, my love was in vain,
A bittersweet symphony of joy and pain.
Yet still, I held onto a glimmer of hope,
That someday you’d see, you’d finally cope,
But time slipped away, and so did my chance,
Leaving me lost in a hopeless trance.
Now I must let go of this love so pure,
Though it breaks me inside, of that I am sure,
For in the depths of unrequited affection,
I find solace in knowing my own reflection.
So farewell, my love, a chapter must close,
As I walk away, the pain in my heart grows,
But I’ll cherish the moments, the dreams we once shared,
In the depths of my soul, forever ensnared.
And perhaps in another time, another place,
Our paths may cross, love’s sweet embrace,
But until then, I’ll carry the scars of this tale,
A reminder of love’s triumph and its bittersweet wail.
The poem “You” begins with a note of pessimism. With AABB rhyme scheme the poem beautifully captures the tragic tale of an unrequited love. It is not uncommon for a poet to write about love and loss, about romance and heartbreak, but here we see the loss of something never gained, a woeful tale with the speaker’s one-sided feelings. Much like David Malouf’s poem “Revolving Days”, this poem ends with a note of acceptance. Similarly, like Malouf’s poem, it is noteworthy to say that there is no specific gender mentioned in this poem “You”, indicating the universality of love.