It Slipped Away

In a quiet room, where shadows play and dart,

Dwells a man with an ever-aching heart,

Four jewels once his, so vibrant and smart,

And a wife, his soul's counterpart.

They danced around him, a symphony of delight,

Laughter and whispers, from morning to night,

But he, blind to the glow, the luminous light,

Only saw their brilliance as they took flight.

He was a king, in a castle of sand,

Not seeing the treasure, slipping from his hand,

A garden of Eden, yet he couldn't understand,

Till winter came, with its cold, harsh reprimand.

Now, silence is his companion, a faithful guide,

In the vast emptiness where his regrets reside,

A stark reminder of the love that died,

The joy he ignored, now a chasm wide.

He sits, a statue of remorse and rue,

In the solitude that he thought he knew,

But this silence is different, bitter, askew,

A lesson learned too late, a truth that grew.

Once, joy was a concept, a distant dream,

Something he brushed aside, a trivial theme,

But now, its absence cuts through, a relentless beam,

A constant echo in his soul's silent scream.

His children, his stars, now galaxies away,

Their laughter, a memory fading into gray,

And his wife, the moon, who once swayed,

In his nights, now a light that's led astray.

He knows now, what joy is not, a cruel tutor,

In the absence of love, life's bitter suitor,

A wisdom gained in the hush, all the sharper,

For the beauty missed, in his heart's quiet mutter.

So he lives, day by day, in his sorrow's clutch,

A man who once had everything, but not much,

A cautionary tale, of how one can touch,

The very essence of joy, yet not know as such.

But even in despair, a glimmer, faint and slight,

A hope that maybe, beyond the endless night,

Lies a dawn, a chance to make things right,

To find joy again, in the love that took flight.

For even a heart, once lost in its plight,

Can learn from the shadows, to seek out the light,

To cherish each moment, to hold them tight,

And find in the pain, a future bright.