A Matter of Will
©2006 AndrewHull

The boy could regale any crowd with a tale
But his lack of resolve was a curse
He was lost to the stage at a very young age
For he hadn’t the will to rehearse

It started out slow, he was star of the show
Society sang his refrain
He took a young wife in the course of his life
Which he hadn’t the will to maintain

There was laughter and smoke and many a joke
But respect is a currency earned
And it’s easily spent in a giddy descent
And very rarely returned

Compelled to impress and coming home less
He slept in the clothes that he wore
She carried his name through the burdon of shame
He hadn’t the will to restore

A man of renown at the wrong end of town
The whispers were getting around
He tried to rely on the friends he could buy
And there were a few to be found

He couldn’t turn back, so took an old track
And followed a well trodden groove
Till lost and ashamed, he could not be reclaimed
He hadn’t the will to improve

Now as the ghost of the thing he feared most
He tells of his awful decline
But nobody hears, just himself and his tears
And his underarm bottle of wine.

She survives on her own, she’s mostly alone
And memories follow her still
But her head is held high, she never asks why,
To her, it’s a matter of will.