Love Is Like a Pane of Glass

Water flows from the dam of life, Not easy, but not all strife. There is a point at which we die, Lest we forget, not all goes awry. Often, we denounce and scold, As we pass from young to old. Friends and family are to adore, Before you or they are no more. Love is like a pane of glass. Held by two, it can endure. If by one, too heavy a mass, Alone not too sure. Always in motion, never stable, Never static, ever brittle. Held a moment, barely able, To withstand the noncommital. Words you utter, tone of voice, A grimace, smile, or rolling eye. Words and deeds are your choice, Be they honey or some lye. Every thought or smile, Frown or furrow can beguile, And must pass first this test: Is it really for the best? If the pane glass should drop, It will chip, crack or shatter. Damage you cannot stop, Lasting memory does matter. Each cycle does grow short, The glass ever more frail. Until that one last retort, You’ve had the final rail. You get no second chance, To name what really mattered. Gone forever, that romance, The pane of glass, has shattered.