Love Unrequited

It was so..very long ago, and the time it was another

To the priesthood sworn, I was torn, between God and a lover

I couldn’t have both so broke my oath, stealing a girl’s heart that belonged to a lad

Born poor, no future in store, she was all that he had

He’d been hit on the head and left for dead, his capacity was diminished

But what he’d lost in smart he’d gained in heart, for his soul was not blemished

To pledge his love, more than all above, everything he had he laid down

Too poor to buy anything more he gave her an eiderdown

Her father and mother said find another his station is too low

So with some guilt she sold his quilt to buy her trousseau

To take my hand, she left her land six thousand miles away

She left not a word, nothing he heard of her fate that day

Finding she’d left, he was bereft, knowing she‘d chosen another man’s bed

He put a gun to his head, it misfired instead, and into a bottle he fled

Drunk out of his mind, the first girl he did find he proposed to and married

But the pain, it did remain, and the memory of her he carried

To fill the hole in his soul, houses of ill repute he frequented

For thirty years, his loss through tears and alcohol were vented

His temper hot, his every thought; was an eye for an eye

The error to correct and his honor to protect he vowed: that man must die

Love lost, faith tossed, both her and God I‘d courted with lies

Although she was tough, she had enough of endless night cries

I’d been selfish beyond belief, she had no relief, I didn’t value her worth

She felt rejected and unprotected so returned to the place of her birth

She found him still on the beaches of Brazil his hair now gone gray

On the sand he held her hand and offered to take her away

With his dark hair, he‘d once been fair, one might say he‘d been quite handsome

But with the years and so many tears he’d paid times ransom

Now he drank until he stank and was short and fat

Although still proud, in any crowd, he was not much to look at

She asked how she could join him now, since they both had children and a spouse

“Everything will be fine your children will be mine and I’ll give my wife my house”

Once more, she made him poor, for her he gave up all that he had

My children surely treated him poorly, they treated him so bad

To each insult instead of revolt he returned gentle kindness

Each low blow he took in tow and acted with selective blindness

Finding the thief, he sighed in relief “Now I’ll take care of the one that ruined my life!”

He smiled from ear to ear, it was quite clear what he intended to do to avoid further strife

Having stolen his intended wife and all the years of his life he had every right to wish me ill

But like no other than a brother, he takes care of not only her but me in Brazil