Eternal

Eternal

Down that dusty road I watched you go,
My ears still ringing with your words:
"I love you so."

Sun bright and golden in your hair;
Back so straight, shoulders squared,
Dreams we shared now put on hold;
To beg you stay I was not so bold.

Proud to answer your country's call,
As you faded from view I prayed;
"Don't let him fall."

"I'll wait forever!" I shouted to the wind
As out of sight you turned the bend.
My words now a sentence for the ages;
My living, a toil to turn the pages.

Ever searching, just out of reach,
Never making it past the breach
Of long-forgotten pacts made twixt just two
Who swore an oath of all we'd do

To keep the shroud of forgetting from our minds
So to peer at last into familiar eyes.

And though I sit in my solitude pondering,
Remembering parting words and weary of wandering,
But feeling still the warmth of your leaving hand in mine
I swear I'll walk with you 'til the end of time!

~Sheila MacGregor from "Quiet Reflections" ~ October 2008~