There’s something wrong, I know it;
I shouldn’t feel so gay.
I shouldn’t welcome mornings,
And savor each new day.

The books I read, the songs I hear,
Tell of sadness I should be feeling.
But happiness courses through my veins.
My joyful heart is reeling.

For years I belonged to someone
whose identity I assumed,
A lifetime, it seems, where all my dreams
eroded or were entombed.

Being with the one I chose
Brought decades of empty hours.
While being alone brings peace of mind
And a new found sense of power.

There are occasional moments
When quiet sadness appears,
Thoughts of what was, and could have been,
And of all those wasted years.

And now, at last, I’m on my own;
Tinged with anxiety.
But anxious to grab what life offers;
Accountable only to me.

I know not what tomorrow will bring.
I only know that today
What’s deep within won’t hold me back,
And what’s outside won’t block my way.