💔 Divorce
"Some roads break our hearts before they lead us home."
I honestly feel like I've lived two completely different lives. Sometimes it seems as though someone else lived the first one, and I'm simply telling his story.
I never imagined divorce would become part of mine. Not me.
Divorce isn't simply two people separating. It's a jagged tear that reaches into every part of your life. And when children are involved, that tear reaches into theirs as well. They often carry wounds they never asked for.
If these poems find you during one of life's hardest seasons, I hope they remind you of one thing... broken hearts can heal. They may never look the same again, but they can still love, laugh, and find peace. Mine did.
TWO STORY HOUSE
"One of the most difficult lessons I learned about relationships is that two people can live under the same roof and experience completely different realities. Sometimes the greatest distance between two people is not measured in miles, but in understanding."
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It was his story against hers
They had agreed to disagree
He knows for sure he had done nothing wrong
Nothing he could say could help her see
​
A few moments with friends
After work in a dark place
She got a phone call from her friend
Who had seen his smiling face
​
She prayed that there was nothing
Going on with him and her
She couldn't face the thought
He'd ever be with another girl
​
He said, "There were six of us
Sitting there at the table.
I would have changed the one who sat beside me
If I had been able."
​
Their loud screams and fighting could be heard
All through the house
The kids had all gone into their bedrooms
As the argument became too loud
​
He couldn't help but notice
She seemed so intense and so stressed out
He really thought she trusted him
He wondered what else this could be about
​
What he didn't know
And what she was keeping hidden inside
Was the fact that it was she
Who was seeing someone else on the side
​
It was the terrible guilt she was feeling
And the raw emotion so very deep
She wanted to tell her loving husband
Of her secret thoughts and be free
​
But he had been so good to her
For all of these twenty years
She could see the puzzled confusion on his face
As he was holding back his tears
​
Their loud fight finally turned to silence
The towering flames were finally doused
Now they'll just continue to keep their secrets
And survive living
​
In their two-story house.
IF ONLY
Regret can be a powerful thing. It tempts us to spend our lives looking backward at what might have been instead of forward at what still can be. This poem is about the struggle to let go of the "if onlys" and trust God with the road ahead.
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Sitting here all by myself
It's awful lonely here
I think of friends and family
That I do hold so dear
​
It's really easy now to think
But I dread it to begin
The time is right, I know it well
For the "If Onlys" to creep in
​
If only I had money enough
To do with what I wish
If only I had time to spare
To relax or read or fish
​
If only I could take my kids
And hold them tight to me
To tell them how very much I care
And bounce them on my knee
​
If only I could watch them grow
And lead them through this life
If only I had a friend
That I could call my wife
​
If only I was satisfied
With where my life is now
If only these "If Onlys"
Could go away somehow
​
I know that I must stop this woe
I can't keep going on
For Jesus loves me, this I know
But His work is left undone
​
In me He's working overtime
Freeing me from guilt and sin
To keep these awful "If Onlys"
From slowly creeping in
ALL ALONE IN A PLACE CALLED HOME
Divorce leaves behind more than broken promises. It leaves empty rooms, silent hallways, and memories that echo through a house that no longer feels like home. This poem explores that loneliness through the eyes of a mother learning
how to begin again after losing her children in a bitter divorce.
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The love song has ended
The last notes have been sung
She sits among the wreckage
All she feels is numb
​
She still can see the pictures
Hung with smiles upon the wall
It all seems so very long ago
Another life, a long, long fall
​
All alone in a place called home
I'm sitting here in so much pain
I'm scared and all alone
You can't see the emptiness
And pain deep in my soul
​
I just keep crying and trying
To get you off my mind
I'm so alone in a place called home
​
She walks into her empty house
The silence hurts her ears
This is what she dreaded most
This is what she feared
​
She reaches out to hug the air
Her eyes, they well with tears
They tell her time will heal the pain
But they say it could be years
​
All alone in a place called home
I'm sitting here in so much pain
I'm scared and all alone
You can't see the emptiness
And pain deep in my soul
I just keep crying and trying
To get you off my mind
I'm so alone in a place called home
​
She knows that it won't be long
That soon she'll have her boys
But again the silence tears her heart
No boys
No noise
No toys
​
She hears the echoes of their voices
"Oh Mommy, come and see."
She feels so empty deep inside
And drops down to her knees
​
She looks up to the stars above
Breathes deep and dries her eyes
She knows somehow she'll love again
She knows somehow she'll try
​
She won't sit here in so much pain
Not scared and all alone
She'll never let him see the emptiness
And pain deep in her soul
She'll just keep crying and trying
To get on with her life
And start her new life
In a place called home
PLEASE DON'T CRY
This poem is written from the perspective of a daughter reflecting on the love of her father. As a parent, I have always been moved by the lasting bond between fathers and their children, and by the way love can endure through separation, distance, and even death.
​
It was somewhere back in childhood innocence
I can't remember just where or when
But the man I loved so dearly
Who had become my closest friend
​
Came to me one day
With tears falling from his eyes
He tried to speak and tell me
I was going to start a new life
​
He reached out to touch my face
To tell me he had to leave
He said, "Please don't cry, I love you.
It's not your fault, you must believe."
​
He said, "Please don't cry, I love you.
I'll see you soon, my dear.
We'll hug and have fun together.
There's no need for tears."
​
He was always there for me
On weekends and important days
But it was always so hard to say goodbye
And watch him drive away
​
As I grew older, it grew easier to understand
His love was unconditional
I made mistakes
He held my hand
​
I fell in love and life went on
And I learned just what love meant
I looked into the eyes of my child
That for sure was Heaven-sent
​
Dad would come over to visit
And whenever he would turn to leave
I could feel the tears well up inside
And he would say to me,
​
"Please don't cry, I love you.
I'll see you soon, my dear.
We'll hug and have fun together.
There's no need for tears."
​
I watched him as he grew older
His youthful blond had turned to gray
My kids grew up and loved him
They always hated when he drove away
​
I still have chills when I remember
The night I got the call
Please come quick, there's something wrong
The leaves were turning in early fall
​
I arrived in the room and they told me
He's been waiting to have you near
And in the voice I loved so much
So faint, I leaned in to hear
​
He said,
"Please don't cry, I love you.
I'll see you soon, my dear.
Oh, what a hug we'll have together.
There's no need for tears.
​
This time is no different.
You know I always will be near.
So please don't cry, I love you.
I'll see you soon, my dear."
"There was a season when I had almost nothing left. This poem isn't about how strong I was. It's about discovering that God had never let go of the other end of the rope."
The Rope
It was the darkest time in my life.
I was hungry, broke, and all alone.
I had lost everything I loved
And was hundreds of miles from my home.
​
It was a city of two million people,
But not one of them was there for me.
I struggled just to face each day;
There was no hope that I could see.
​
It was like walking a deep muddy road,
And with every step I sank deeper still.
Trying to move forward seemed impossible;
Every step just tested my will.
​
It was then that I noticed the rope.
It was there if I'd only take it in my hand.
I don't know why I hadn't reached for it before;
I guess holding on wasn't part of my plans.
​
Looking all around me, I had no choice.
Either pull on the rope or stay where I stood.
So I grabbed it and pulled with all of my strength,
And that's when I first felt His grace.
​
I was finally moving forward.
I was finally on my way.
I was finally discovering
How to make it through the longest days.
​
I rose above the clinging mire,
Finally standing on solid ground.
I was still covered in the mud,
But new life and love I had found.
​
I knew who held the other end,
Beyond the mire, beyond the flood.
I knew it was I who had let go,
And I knew I'd been saved by the blood.
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Never let go.
Always hold on to the rope.
That's where you'll find your redemption,
Your grace,
Your love,
Your hope.
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Because He has never let go of the other end.