"true love will find you in the end
you’ll find out just who was your friend
don’t be sad
i know you will
but don’t give up until
true love will find you in the end
this is a promise with a catch
only if you’re looking
can it find you
‘cause true love is searching too,
but how can it recognize you
unless you step out into the light, the light
don’t be sad
i know you will
but don’t give up until
true love will find you in the end."
Daniel Johnston, "True Love Will Find You In The End"
for the new lovers,
young or old,
first time through or unexpectedly starting again after having forgotten, or given up,
for the new lovers,
freshly fallen,
with confessions newly uttered,
and promises made from the previously unknown or just rediscovered depths of your hearts:
may you find the night’s earnest words buried deep and forever under the dirt of your selves,
may you find the softness of your beloved’s lips and the heat of their flesh burned unforgettably inside you,
may you always remember the joy, the peace, the fire, that you feel right now.
for the forsaken lovers,
young or old,
with shattered hearts,
vows broken and words betrayed, leaving bitter tears falling:
may you find comfort in knowing you once walked through days alight and alive,
may you find comfort in knowing you found the courage to risk all of yourself,
may you always remember the joy, the peace, the fire, that you once felt.
for the doubting lovers,
young or old,
secretly wishing for love,
but believing themselves too wrong, too young, too old, too broken, too faulty:
may you not forget that you are beautiful and deserving,
may you not forget that every last one of us is worthy of love,
may you find the strength to keep believing.
for the lovers deep in the middle of their loves,
young or old,
with yesterdays and tomorrows together laid out as far as the mind’s eye can see:
may you remember that what you have is precious and fleeting,
may you remember to let the occasional unkind word or gesture pass by as an accident of familiarity,
may you recognize that your example of kindness and giving and forgiving shines a much-needed light into a world of sometimes unbearable darkness.
and most of all, i pray
for the lovers,
young or old,
with three months or fifty years together,
oh, i pray for the lovers torn apart tonight,
left alone to discover the meaning of the words
"parted by death."
i pray with all my heart
for the lovers saying goodbye for the last time,
holding hands, holding on,
praying for a miracle they know won’t come,
desperately staving off that last breath.
oh, how my heart bleeds for you,
for i said such a goodbye myself,
two years ago last night.
i know, i know, i know,
and you deserve the truth, not lies,
not platitudes,
and so i tell you now,
you will curse love,
you will curse your beloved,
you will curse this world, and having been born into it,
you will curse the happy people walking through it in oblivion,
you will curse the happy days you once had,
and most of all,
you will curse yourself,
for having believed, and for having let yourself fallen,
i should have known better, you will say.
but trust me.
it will not always be this way.
some day, you will remember something like this:
you will remember
standing in an airport in the middle of a long-gone april,
watching passengers walk through a gate,
you will remember what it felt like to be young and strong and wildly in love,
you will remember what it felt like to fall joyously into the arms of your beloved,
you will remember that once, in an embrace,
you cheated time, and death, and you glimpsed the eternal.
you will remember
that no matter the price love may someday extract,
no price is too high.
may you remember,
may we all remember,
amen.