Not Learned In Books

Love’s knife of disappointment rends

With unexpected ease

And life can pack a sucker-punch

That knocks us to our knees

The heart, though beating can be crushed

Or torn apart within

The art of learning, never rushed

In worlds beneath our skin

Love’s lessons are not taught in books

No prescript rules to naught

The law whereby we undertook

Its pleasures without thought

Still, we are never quite prepared

For what we did not know

Where, given time few, few are spared

Love’s subtle, cruel blow

We are a breed of common need

The greed of who we are

Is subject to the bitter seed

Of hunger’s holy war

God, help us, heal us from the hurt

Where love would be in vain

If we could not brush off its dirt

And try, try, try again

© Janet Martin