Love Poem: Broken Promises
Laurie Ginn Avatar
Written by: Laurie Ginn

Broken Promises

Putting on my rings
my hand reached past the one 
I was looking for to the ones 
Pillowed softly in the back

I gently touched them
Then without emotion take them out
And slipped them on my finger

Memories went through my mind
Like a silent movie 

The delight I had when you gave them to me
How hard I tried to think of every reason
to use my hands and show them off

The way I would twist them when I was nervous
The white band they made with a summer tan
And the day I took them off

I promised you forever
but I stole my promise back
somewhere in all those years
of pretending to be happy
My heart rusted from neglect

I determined  that a person that enjoys his own misery
Learns to resent rainbows
Lonelier with you than I ever was alone
I selfishly chose my own happiness
and finally I have given up the guilt of
not being able to 'fix' it

What do you do with old wedding rings
Are they demoted to whatever monetary value
They may have

Are they tucked forever away
with the baby teeth and first shoes

Does the preciousness of the love they once
Symbolized have any value 

Without emotion I pillowed them back into
The softness and closed the box

Possibly you broke some promises too