Love Must Endure....

Through rose-tinted glasses,

Have I ever seen the world,

Through golden sheen,

that mist the eyes,

And cloud the truth of vision;

Rose-tinted glasses, 

A thousand times shattered,

By those jolts of reality;

Yet how quickly they mend, 

And heal the pain of knowing. 

And this is how I loved-

Trusting pleasing illusions, 

Which were my wishful creations, 

Until they crashed to the dust, 

And left me a void of nothingness;

So I loved because of the beauty I saw,

The virtue and goodness,

With which I draped their hearts,

And I loved because I was loved, 

For I wanted my love to be returned;

But this is the way of the child, 

And age was quick and ruthless,

In rocking the boat,

That floated on dreams,

Of what I thought men to be; 

For I found that what I loved,

Was a fairytale, unreal,

And the hearts of men were evil;

Devotion is met with slander,

And they preyed upon innocence.

Here was a trial of the heart,

A test of faithfulness and truth- 

Is love so fickle to quickly die, 

When it is left unsatisfied? 

No, it must endure or love is a lie! 

Now my bright and rosy vision,

Was left transparent,

And the strength of my heart, 

Was tested- 

The depth of its rivers were measured.

Can I love when love is not returned,

When trust is betrayed,

And faith is hurt?

Love unfailing that asks nothing,

But is pure, for its sake only; 

For love is not a feeling,

To be swayed and driven,

By the heart's changing directions; 

But though fruitless, unrequited, betrayed,

Must go on, undaunted and brave.

And in God alone, I found this love,

For when he loved the souls of men, 

And chose them as his own, 

He knew that their weak and mortal love, 

Could never equal his own;

We were unworthy and yet you loved,

Though you knew the deceit of our hearts,

Then teach us this love, so pure and divine-

As when you died to save the very souls,

Of the men who crucified you....