You Know how It Is...

You know how it is, she whispered

Wordless my own words slipped;

‘Sorrow is a constant companion

Joy is a cup, cracked and chipped’

Happiness is the heart’s halo

Spilling its light to the eye

Longing, a ravenous shadow

Raking the deep with its sigh

Love is a compass whereby we

Will never be led astray

Hope succors self’s daily dying

Where love is leading the way

Yet, when the day-dust has settled

And all of dusk’s colors have dripped

Over a halo of nettles

Into joy’s cup, cracked and chipped

I hear the bittersweet echo

Only spent years can admit;

‘Sorrow is a constant companion

Joy is a cup cracked and chipped’

© Janet Martin