I’m probably not alone in this struggle…
In a romantic relationship, I’m constantly in danger of expecting my partner to be God and to meet my deepest needs for love, affirmation and worth. Here is a poem I wrote to help myself with that, and maybe it will speak to you as well.
You would comfort me
Today I carried round the thought –
he may not love me after all –
like a lead weight on my heart
like acid in my stomach
like barbed wire round my lungs.
I couldn’t breathe.
I couldn’t close my eyes without the question leaking out:
How would I survive?
And then the answer came.
I would be eviscerated, yes,
my heart torn from my chest –
but you would comfort me.
By the wind blowing off the sea
by the kestrel circling above the field
by the dawn breaking out across the sky –
each morning different to the one before –
by my child’s hand holding on to mine,
you would comfort me.
The water from his well is sweet;
I long to drink there every day.
But you alone – the well of wells,
the spring of springs,
the ground and source of all our being –
can truly comfort me.
So I will weep, and drink from you,
and you will comfort me.
now for the real thing 