I shall not cry Return! Return!

Nor weep my years away;

But just as long as sunsets burn,

And dawns make no delay,

I shall be lonesome – I shall miss

Your hand, your voice, your smile, your kiss.

 

Not often shall I speak your name,

For what would strangers care

That once a sudden tempest came

And swept my garden bare,

And then you passed, and in your place

Stood Silence with her lifted face.

 

Not always shall this parting be,

For though I travel slow,

I, too, may claim eternity

And find the way you go;

And so I do my task and wait

The opening of the outer gate.

Ellen M. H. Gates.

Photo. Remains of the Battle of Alsance, World War 1, on German / France border.

(c) Lee-Anne Kling 2014.