Divorce – A Poem About Personal Growth

If you’ve ever been divorced or are thinking of it, please read the following exquisite poem entitled:

THE DIVORCE
by Zara Raab

All those years, I didn’t listen
when you complained of discontent,
your frustration with me, your burden,
but prattled on, and overspent,
spoiling the children
on ribbons and satin.
I listened only to my own torment.

Now I will never again
hear your rankled chiding,
nor engage you in soft conversation,
nor see you in better moods smiling
when you, too, felt lazy
and we were lightly happy
as we sometimes could be, chatting, laughing.

Why did you let me go so completely
when I said it was time to go away,
when I packed up my bags and flew? Why
didn’t you stop me leaving that day,
so that though now I hear
each complaint quite clearly,
it is only for myself I change?

When we parted I withdrew
in anger, without remorse.
I moved as the outfielder must do
to catch the regret I’d miss too close.
I could not then know
the distance I must go
to see the world more clearly, or be lost.

Even now I should not speak of this.
Your life is apart, separate from me.
To go back now cannot be our wish.
Our skiffs head swiftly out to sea.
Yet who unstopped my ears
so now I can hear
what you without intending did so teach me?

Every person who is in or has ever been in a long-term marriage can relate to this poem that’s really about marriage. Marriage is where your personal development takes place. You help your partner become all that he or she can be, and she or he does the same for you. It’s painful, but it’s also deeply rewarding. When you get divorced, there’s no one to help you keep this process going. Keep your marriage classroom going as long as you can.