Mistress Youth

youth is a fickle mistress

batting her clear green eyes

whispering in your ear...

I will stay with you forever



naively, you believe her

slug through the weeks

and months and years

thinking she will always be there



you live your days for others

instead of yourself and her, while

work and family obligations

mindlessly gorge on time perennial



time you should have spent loving

time you should have spent living

time you should have spent just being

time you should have spent with her



until one morning you wake up alone

she has left you for someone younger

leaving you old and worn out and used up

no good to yourself or anyone else



you see her out with her new love

and grow angry and resentful and hard

hating her for abandoning you

hating her for being happy without you



then, slowly you come to realize

that she did not leave you

you left her, long ago, standing alone

crying, ‘neath the glow of a fallow moon


©️2023 jai

Image by Victoria_Watercolor from Pixabay

14 thoughts on “Mistress Youth

  1. I remember a quote (which I’ll likely butcher here), something about youth being wasted on the young and wealth being wasted on the elderly, though I suppose it’s a bit of turnabout is fair play. Only a fool would trade short-term “strange” for long-term history, stability and love. I think most of them end up getting exactly what they deserve, but, I’ve been accused of being a bit of a romantic anyway… 🖤

    Liked by 1 person

    • I recall the quote, but like you, don’t know it verbatim.
      Yes, a lot of people get bored in a long term relationship, but if they would bother to put in a little effort, it wouldn’t be that way. Love withers on the vine if not properly nourished.
      You, a romantic? Somehow, I don’t see it. But as I’ve told you before, I can be dense at times. 🖤

      Liked by 1 person

      • Oddly, kind of glad to hear that. I had a girlfriend a number of years ago that said I was as subtle as a heart attack. She was a ‘straight-shooter’, so I have a lot of respect for her even to this day. Hey jai, is there a reason why you have stopped accepting comments from last month already? I wanted to comment on your ‘Wednesday’s Child’ but it says comments are closed. I was hoping you had more already published, but am happy to stick around and see what else you release going forward… 😊

        Liked by 1 person

      • I recently switched to the Jetpack app for WordPress (they’ll be closing the old one down in March), and after reading your comment, looked at my settings. I had set it to 365 days for comments, but it had been reset to 30 days. I upped it to 120 days (the maximum allowed) so now, you should be able to comment.
        I have a lot of poems from previous blogs, plus am still writing new ones—and fiction—that I will post over time. I’m happy you like some of my work. 😊🖤
        What were you referencing when you said “kind of glad to hear that?” My tendency to be dense, or my surprise at you being accused of being a romantic? (My denseness is showing again.) 🙄

        Liked by 1 person

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