Comes the Dawn

i first saw this poem in Danielle Steel's collection of Love poems, but my mom handwrote it for me on a sheet of bond paper many many years ago, when i was around 17 or 18, while she was having her own marriage troubles, and a year or two before she finally left...

recently, i've tried to find it in the Net, but what i find in the Net now is the original version by Judith Evans, or Veronica Shofftall (there is a debate as to who really wrote it).

i like this Danielle Steel version better and i'd like to keep it here for Net posterity, as the copy my mom gave me is now yellowed and tattered around the edges.

***

comes the dawn

after a while you learn
the subtle difference
between holding a hand
and sharing a life
and you learn that love
doesn't mean possession
and company
doesn't mean security
and loneliness is universal.
and you learn
that kisses aren't contracts
and presents
aren't promises.

so you begin to accept your defeats
with your head up
and your eyes open
with the grace of a woman
not the grief of a child.

and you learn to build your hope
on today
as the future has a way
of falling apart
in mid-flight.
because tomorrow's grounds
can be too uncertain for plans
yet
each step taken
in a new direction
creates a path
toward the promise
of a brighter dawn.

and you learn
that even sunshine burns
if you get too much.

so you plant your own garden
and nourish your own soul
instead of waiting
for someone
to bring you flowers.

and you learn that love,
true love,
always has joys and sorrows
seems ever present
yet is never quite the same
becoming more than love
and less than love
so difficult to define.

and you learn
that through it all--
you really can endure,
that you really are strong,
that you do have value.

and you learn and grow
with every goodbye
you learn.