Let me tell you a story, it's short, so don't worry; of a life from my past
That through twists and turns of fate so stern left to me a love to last.
It is with great reservation and ardent hesitation that I so intimately disclose
The stripped inner working of temptations clever lurking to mislead and happiness pose.
The old sages hold a truth so bold like the tears that follow a song
That no matter the care or how often your there, you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.
It was late one night I was hoping that I might be lucky to find a mate
Whose company would bestow me strength to throw this arduous, melancholy weight.
I did everything I knew yet loneliness remained true
Like a friend who is forever by my side.
But for this faithful companion, I needed a stand in. A replacement, a forever goodbye.
Then came the recession of my persistent depression that once pinned me to the ground
When I laid my eyes on this glorious prize, not stolen or won, but found.
Her name was Tara, and with no lady fairer had I spent a moment in conversation before
Yet tonight we expounded of topics compounded with faith and politics, and movies and more.
One thing led to another, then came the meeting of her mother who was intimidating and stern to boot
but she wasn’t that bad when I later met her dad who promised if it broke his daughter's heart to shoot.
But we all got along, and now we all belong to the same family when she took my name.
For I decided then, until our stories end, our lives and journeys would be the same.
Then soon she was with child, which of course sent me wild with excitement and love and glee,
That any time now with hands folded and head bowed my wife would give the world a little me.
We did all we should, we did all we could to stay healthy and do right by our baby
Never had you seen a nursery so pristine, most would call it neurotic or at least a little crazy.
Then came the day when I heard her say rather excited as she collapsed with a thud
“Baby it's happening, this time it's happening but should there be that much blood?”
I raced to her aid, gathered her and made an exit like a rocket set to burn
For the sight of my girl who brought joy into my world, limp and flushed was my only concern.
I turned left then right then left again now straight and hit the gas
She didn't look good, and by her moans I understood the urgency of what was to pass.
At the hospital they take and of her situation make what looks like circus or a feeding
As dozens of people with skills unequaled try their best to stop the bleeding.
The screams and beeps like insects creep into my mind to tell the story
Of how my wife that night gave her life to leave behind this little glory.
The world slips out of hand as others around me stand to support with chair and glove
As I come to realize that this is my prize, the one who killed my love.
I hold in my arms in this maze of alarms a piece of the heaven I used to know,
When things made sense, that’s now past tense as into the future I go.
My greatest love gave me my greatest joy and in doing so lost her way
As she brought to this world a beautiful little girl, she went with God, as they say.
Now here juxtaposed in this baby composed, a conflict in me starts to swell,
For in her delivery I lost half my story, her birth was a murder as well.
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So now you see how things can be when cherished things are left uncared for.
For life is not slow to challenge what you know, and change what you're here for.
I’m sure you’re shocked, with accusations cocked, at the atrocity of speaking such things;
“How could you say, offer fate chance to play with such precious and beloved beings?”
I wrote this down because of the sound that resonated in my heart
With people who know pain, who cry out in His Name, that from them this cup would part.
Yet a truth resides, that all heartache aside, cannot be ignored or pushed away;
"When on tragedy we muse, our minds become confused, and we don’t always mean what we say."
This story is true, maybe not for me or you, but real none the less,
And to ignore that I or my wife could someday die is to live my life a mess.
I love my wife, not because I might grow old and one day die,
I love my wife today because today I can say without hesitation or hint of a lie
That she is the best, far greater than the rest of the partners I could choose.
To me the greatest treasure, worth more than I can measure, and the one I am afraid to lose.
Now the story ends sad, as a grieving dad struggles with the loss of his other.
But I believe he knows, as his daughter grows, she will remind him of her mother.
Now think for a moment sane, of the life that became of a man who loved every choice he made,
For an angel was his true love, and in his arms lay his little dove, maybe life gave him a fair trade.