A poem of remembrance, love and World War II


The tiny water droplets splash against the window
And slide slowly down.

The millions of shiny liquid drops
Create a beautiful effect
Like a stain glass window.

When the blinding light flashes
Through the grey clouds high above
It causes the droplets to glow
Like a thousand diamonds sparkling

I stare out beyond the cliff
At the waves crashing
Against the jagged rocks

Slowly eroding
The towering mountain

The sky rumbles
Like a growling lion

As I focus my attention
To a small patch in my backyard

A garden of memories
Lie deep in the soil

And in the center
A red rose shines
Like a light
Guiding the forgotten memories
Back to their rightful home

The heavens cry
As one memory
Makes its way
To the patted earth
In the center of the yard



I close my eyes
And watch as the memory
Returns to me

A silent movie
Starts to play in my head
As the memory begins to unfold

It becomes clearer
And clearer
Until I am living it
Once again

The sun is shining around me
On a brilliant summers day
A man stands on the left of my body
Clasping my hand
As we wait anxiously
For the time to come

Down the street
We heard the purring of a car
As it comes into view
My heart starts to pound
And my breathing becomes quicker

But yet I am calm
For I am with the man I love most
My husband
His aura reflects off of his towering figure
And warms my soul

The car
A dark green truck
Pulls up in front of our house
It is filled with men
Dressed identical to the man standing next to me

We walk down the steps
To the people before us
As we approach the truck
The men salute us
And my husband copies
For he is ready to go
Into the world beyond
A world full of war and anger


But he is brave
And strong
He fears nothing
This is his country
A country he must fight for
Freedom and independence
Is now in his hands

I let go of him
He leans down
And whispers
A short “I love you”
Into my ear
I nod
Letting go of him
Is like letting go of my life

He walks to the car
And climbs in
I wave goodbye
As they start down the street
And soon
They are out of my view

I wait
And wait
And wait

For something
Someone
To tell me how he is
How he is doing

After 2 years of waiting
For something
Anything
It finally came

I remember the ring of the doorbell
The slight knock on the door
As I hustle down the stairs
To answer


I placed my hand
On the smooth, silver doorknob
And twist it in a clockwise motion
Until I hear the familiar click
Of the door unlocking

In front of me
Stands a muscular, tall man
In a dark green uniform
I don’t ask a single thing
For he has a stern look on his face

He enters my room
Without question and walks over
To the window with the small banner
With a red outline
A white inside
And a blue star in the center

He kneels down
Shrouding the banner
From my view
He takes something out of his pocket
And places it onto the banner
I stare at him in wonder and confusion
What can be wrong?

As he stands up
I gasp
And the tears start to flow
In place of the dark blue star
Is now a golden star
The sign that only signals
That a soldier
Has died

I remember walking down
The white cobbled stoned road
Dressed in black
With tears streaming down my face
Like a never ending water fall

The horse trots behind me
Carrying the casket of my beloved
And the marching band plays
As his fellow soldiers follow
Comrades that were always there for him
And always will be

We reached the grave
An open hole in the Earth
As theylowered the casket into the hole
I cried even more
Knowing that my love
Would never return

The bugles were raised high in the air
As they covered the grave
The familiar song
“Taps”
Echoed through my ears
As I watched the grave
Through clouded eyes

They folded the flag
That covered his casket
And gave it to me
I held it close to my heart
As I knew
This flag was the only thing
That would keep my love
With me
Forever

These memories flashed through my head
As I walked out to the garden
To the wilted rose in the center
I scooped it up with a shovel
And placed it into a pot

From there I traveled in my car
To the cemetery near by
I walked through the graves
Slowly and quietly

The white grave stone
Stood high in front of me
I read my soldiers name on the front
And traced it with my hands
Closing my eyes
Reliving the memory once again

The rain soaked my jacket
As I stood their crying
Holding the pot with the rose
Close to me


Finally, the time came
When I knew I had to let go
I took the rose out of the pot
And placed it into a hole I had made
Its petals were dead and wilted
But it still held strong
It had never fully died along with my husband
This rose was him
It was to remind me that he was always with me
He had never died within me

I walked away
As the sun began to shine
Peeking in through the canopy of trees
I smiled
For today was a new day
And I knew I was never alone

Behind me
The brilliant sunlight shone on the wilted flower
And slowly
It began to rise once again
With its head held up to the sky in triumph
Love can never die





REMEMBER
NEVER FORGET