Waiting

My hand ran through her silky hair, damp from moments before,

I smiled at her beautiful face but a teardrop did fall,

From above, I loved her so, but we were to be parted by war,

I was obliged to take up arms and heed the patriotic call.

That night would remain with me always; I prepared for the military train,

And so too the bittersweet warm rays of the morning sun,

I felt the weight of death upon me; I would never see her again,

It was a heartbreaking situation from which I could not run.

She knew too, that this was to be our final earthly time,

She wept softly on my shoulder, tears flowing from the pain inside,

Death, I said, is but a river between the valley and heaven’s climb,

When it is my time I will think of you only and await you on the other side.

I looked deeply into her beautiful green eyes, inwhich I saw the urgency of fright.

I said to her:

When the thunderbolt hits me and I perish,

I will await you by that riverside,

I will take you into my arms forever to cherish,

And carry you up to be forever by God’s side.

It is not an end for us my angel sweet,

But a new beginning in heaven eternal,

In the bowl of Jesus’ sacrifice we will bathe our feet,

And be kept safe by God from this suffering infernal.

Five months past I lie still on my back and without sound,

My eyes filled with blue sky and the wispy white overhead cloud,

Upon my forehead, a small hole, from a rifle round,

My body was buried unmarked and where it lay, in a hastily made shroud.

I stayed by that river-side for endless years, waiting only for her,

Lying in the soft green meadow, listening as the water churned,

When one day I felt something and looked up; it was to be my forever after,

The heartbreak of loss left as she gently  took my hand and returned.

David Vitali 2017.