Love Poem: One Very Bitter Pill
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Written by: Terry Flood

One Very Bitter Pill

The pains of those ailments that grab us at will 
Once better, like stalkers, can linger on still 
But it’s patently true that life’s bitterest pill
Is the pain when it’s someone you love that is ill

When struck down, bedridden, we try to be brave
Though we feel our survival might be a close shave
But we’d gladly accept our God’s beckoning wave
If that keeps our loved one away from their grave

                                     *

And so when I hear that slight tremor of fear
No hug and no words for the one I hold dear
Can bring forth a smile full of genuine cheer
And that forehead kiss… conceals my own tear

At night, to the God in whom I don’t believe
I sheepishly say, “I don’t want her to leave.”
I snuggle up close, I’m not ready to grieve
And I smile in the morning as I hear her breathe

The doctors I’ve trusted I must trust in still
For they’ll mend her again; I’m sure that they will
But it’s patently true that life’s bitterest pill
Is the pain when it’s someone you love that is ill