“You Stole My Heart”

By Tilden D. Corbett

For Edith

I didn’t know you were a kleptomaniac.

Like a good thief in the night, you always came back.

So deliberate in your steps since the day we first met.

All these years I’ve known you, this knowledge I’ve lacked.

Before you, true love I’ve never known.

No care in the world… no one to call my own.

The days so ordinary… my heart so alone.

Now I’d climb mountains to be your very own.

It’s been said that, “With love comes mourning…

So be careful what you yearn for.”

And that, “The heart is a delicate organ…

So be careful whom you’d bleed for.”

And that, “Love is patient and love hurts”

But with you, I’d experience pain… to hurt no more.

And that, “Love can be tempered when stirred”

But only strengthening our love when merged.

And that, “Love can be maligned at times”

But, I tell you, love is the cure… time after time.

And that, “Love can be feared and, many times, blurred”

But my love is here… and clear for sure.

Some loves are washed away…

Like the high tide does footprints in the bay.

But this love, I must say,

Has been strong for you… always.

So I say again, I didn’t know you were a kleptomaniac…

Until, when we gave vows, and began a new act…

Until, my heart began to swoon this way…

Until, the very first day… you stole my heart away.

But a thief, you no longer need to be…

For I’m giving you both my heart and the key.