Half-Empty Heart by Robert Wynne © 2003 When we were children, we were taught To mind our elders To clean our rooms And to always say "please" And "thank you" And to finish what was on our plate And when we were children, we were taught that stories always had happy endings and that Love, magical Love, was a simple thing that would always endure. Who didn't long to be a fairy-tale prince Winning at long last the heart of a fair lady While the wicked witch retreated into the shadows To wither and die? Today, you are packing your things And I know that I will spend this evening Alone With my thoughts and my regrets And whatever empty fare can be found on the TV And even though you will tell me again How it isn't my fault I will wonder what I didn't do Or maybe what I did. When we were children, Love was a simple thing And stories always had happy endings. But now I find that sometimes stories end like this, with a half-empty box of chinese takeout and a half-empty house and a half-empty heart.