Comes The Dawn
By Veronica A. Shoffstall
After a while you learn
The subtle difference between
Holding a hand and chaining a soul
And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning
And company doesn’t always mean security.
And you begin to learn
That kisses aren’t contracts
And presents aren’t promises
And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head up and your eyes ahead
With the grace of a woman
Not the grief of a child
And you learn
To build all your roads on today
Because tomorrow’s ground is
Too uncertain for plans
And futures have a way
Of falling down in mid flight
After a while you learn
That even sunshine burns if you get too much
So you plant your own garden
And decorate your own soul
Instead of waiting
For someone to bring you flowers
And you learn
That you really can endure
That you are really strong
And you really do have worth
And you learn and you learn
With every goodbye you learn.
I want to learn who is Veronıca A. Shoffstall
me too… i wanna know who she really is..
I researched this author- Veronica Shoffstall- last year and she titles the poem “After Awhile”. I found her actual Website, but it is no longer working:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/8184/afterawh.html
( Author’s note: This poem has been plagiarized, bastardized, renamed, reworded, redesigned, expanded and reduced. But it is my work, which I wrote at the age of 19 and had published in my college yearbook. Why anyone would want to claim it is beyond me, but for what it’s worth, I wrote it, and if I’d known it was going to be this popular, I’d have done a better job of it. – V.S. )
“After a While”
After a while you learn
the subtle difference between
holding a hand and chaining a soul
and you learn
that love doesn’t mean leaning
and company doesn’t always mean security.
And you begin to learn
that kisses aren’t contracts
and presents aren’t promises
and you begin to accept your defeats
with your head up and your eyes ahead
with the grace of woman, not the grief of a child
and you learn
to build all your roads on today
because tomorrow’s ground is
too uncertain for plans
and futures have a way of falling down
in mid-flight.
After a while you learn
that even sunshine burns
if you get too much
so you plant your own garden
and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting for someone
to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure
you really are strong
you really do have worth
and you learn
and you learn
with every goodbye, you learn…
I first read this poem in 1985 while I was going through a nasty divorce. I was just at my all time low and this poem seemed to help me through it.
I now have a son from that marriage who is going through a bad time .
Thank You for writing it!
I was given this poem by one of my close friends at the time (in 1994) as he was helping me recover from a relationship breakup. I was devastated by the unexpected breakup. My friend “Paul” who had started out a blind date set up by some of our mutual friends, soon relized I was in no shape for dating yet. He instead became a trusted and treasured friend who pulled me thru the tough times. He gave me this poem in 1994 and I’ve carried it in my purse all these years, sharing with many poeple over the years. Thank you Paul and thank you Veronica for such an inspirational poem!
I found this poem for my bestfriend, after she was jilted by her fiance…she was so devestated, and when she read this poem, it was like the burden was lifted from her, and she accepted her circumstances. Cheers and many Thanks Veronica
i love this poem. in fact my next tattoo, i would like to have some of this incorporated. I would get the whole poem done, but it’s a bit too long. of course i need to ask permission first, but i don’t know if Veronica A. Shoffstall really reads this web page? i’ll keep poking around the internet