" After A While" 

After a while you learn the subtle difference 
Between holding a hand and chaining a soul 

And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning 
And company doesn't mean security 

And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts 
And presents aren't promises 

And you begin to accept your defects with 
Your head up and your eyes open with the grace 
Of an adult, not the grief of a child 

And you learn to build all your roads on today 
Because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans 
And the future has a way of falling down in mid flight 

After awhile you learn that even sunshine 
Burns if you get too much 

So you plant your own garden and decorate your own 
Soul instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers 

And you can learn that you really can endure 
That you really have worth 
And you learn........ 

With every goodbye, every sunrise, 
"Comes the Dawn" 

~ Veronica Shoffstall~

``In nourishing ourselves, we must learn
to differentiate love and caring from
hunger and longing. People who leave
us feeling hungry and deprived are
not nourishing people. Their hearts
may be stone, and we can't squeeze
water from a stone. Those people who
know how to love, how to give
and how to nourish, do not evoke in us
hunger and longing. After we have
been in their presence, we feel warm,
well-fed and full."