Juan Olivarez - A Broken Heart

I've been in the desert for so long now,
I've missed my home and my only friend.
And now I sit here, asking myself how,
My heart can break, as my days here end.

I've fallen in love for the last time in my life,
With the desert and mountains I see every day.
To this desolate land where I followed my wife,
Now a little voice close to my heart, asks me to stay.

How can my soul be so torn in two?
Why oh Lord do I have to choose?
My grand son's eyes plead with me true,
And inside my heart I feel the bruise.

Oh that my soul could be taken apart,
Leaving pieces for the places and people I love.
For the sights and the little ones in my heart,
I plead to the Lord, for help from above.

Fourteen years ago my son left my home,
To become a marine, because he wanted to serve.
And now I must leave him and his little clones,
But I lack his strength, and his unerring nerve.

My only solace, is that someday,
I can come back to this country so fair.
Somehow, somewhere, there must be a way,
To be with the ones, for whom I care.

This broken heart, will have to mend,
This soul so ravaged, must soar again,
I must be strong, this is'nt the end,
I must smile, act happy, pretend there is no pain.

5/24/10 29 palms ca.

Juan Olivarez

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-broken-heart-55/