Never Let Go.

When I was 15,
Somebody came along
And told me who I was
And who I will become.

Her description sounded
Very similar to what I was familiar with;
She drew the perimeters and defined my limitations.
And how wild and promising it appeared.

She's painted the dream
And set up the field -
So eager was I to live up to it.

Two years later,
I only found myself to be a fool
Who allowed a person to limit me.

*

I was given a man-made dream
To slog for.
But how exhausting it was!
The gloss wears out very quickly.
And everything gets hard-going.

How short-sighted people's vision for you can be.
How blind we can be
To believe and commit to the words people plant in our hearts.

*

What I always desired
Cannot be found in any man and woman.
I needed a cause to live for,
I yearned for a mandate to live out.

All those words they say
Fall to the ground so easily.
All those promises they make
Time drowns them quickly.
Mankind has their good people with good intentions,

But who is the perfect one

Whom I can hope in
and never be disappointed?

Who's promises can I trust
and never be deceived?

Who's words can I obey?

Who is worth
My all -
All my mind, my heart, my strength and my soul?

And I thought,
If a human being can desire for such a person,
Then this person exists.
Then I remember
I used to walk next to him.

How I longed to be back again.
But before I returned,
He came for me.

He held my heart in his palms
And gave me his word.

And just one word from him,
I lost interest in any other word from others.

Nobody else satisfies as he does.

I used to ask him,

'Where do you want me to go?'

And he'd reply,

'Just stay close.'

This year,
I told him,

'I know you will always
Do above and beyond my imagination -

Wherever you bring me,
Do not spare -

Enlarge my territory,
Stretch out the perimeters around me
Lengthen my cords
Strengthen my stakes
Expand me to the right and to the left.'

And I see him smiling at me,
Gripping my right hand,
And say,

'Let's go, Val. Never let go.'

*