I should have let my heart love recklessly,
Not guarded it so well
That no one knew what it sounded like.
I should have put it out there in the battlefield,
Fighting valiantly in the vanguard
Regardless of the arrows that might pierce it.
I should have let it be captured at least once,
Let it set foot on enemy territory,
Experience being a powerless prisoner.
I shouldn't have stopped it from screaming
Battle cries that could once win wars
But are now no more than just forgotten whispers.
I shouldn't have sheltered it so much
That it didn't know what being wounded felt like
Nor the great fear of losing something, or someone.
I should have let it learn the ways of the world,
Showing how to recover from a crushing defeat
And knowing when to retreat.
I shouldn't have thought of letting it retire early on,
Without ever finding a match, to wound and to fuel;
To know danger, to know love, to know loss
I should have let my heart love recklessly,
Now, it might just die without ever knowing adventure;
No stories to tell on rocking chairs when the sun dies.