The heart’s melancholy

Shall I awaken a doubtful heart,

and dare persuade it to love again?

Shall I dare to chance the thought,

or leave it to its peaceful slumber?

Shall I promise not to cut another

wound, when before I have wounded?

Of such compassion, have I within?

Uncertainty, is all that I know

Have I the strength to compromise,

and not to do what was thoughtless a

sacrifice, of that I had broken in bitter

times – times when I had been so cruel?

Have I such a strength – a strength that is so?

All that is certain, all that I know, is that

I am willing, but shall my willingness be

enough, when I am but awake from what

had once been my own – peaceful slumber?

— Repentant Malaise - Rueberry