I understand now that I must go it all alone
That there will be an odd peace deep within my solitary days
That I will understand hope and love and happiness
But from afar and not within myself
Nor will I share them with someone else
My solace is only the strength I possess
The will to go it alone
There will be many who will cross my path
Take part in time well spent
Take time to walk with me but only
For the shortest distance and then they must move on
To other roads inside the universe and other
Lives that must be lead

And I--

I will hold them all together
Pieces of memories and pictures of faces
Crudely glued together as a small child's school project
And as another year comes to an end I smile
And hold my silent, secret resolve
To be strong in my loneliness as I step through this garden
And pray to find another flower--
Perhaps a blackened rose--
Just past the other side of the garden wall
A rose whose thorns
Like mine
Are so many they have pierced its very blossom
And we will stop each other's bleeding

And longing...