I Will Wait For You

In sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow, I will wait for you.

The letter came that fateful day,

To tear you and I apart.
The weeks before you were forced on your way,
Were a blur of a blackened art.

For months I agonised for your return to date,
In sorrow deep enough for fiction.
Until on the dreaded list I read of your fate:
"Missing In Action"

In years that passed, I waited alone,
While no news came of the part of myself.
Hordes of soldiers were flocking back home,
But your file just gathered dust on the shelf.

I knew not if you were dead or alive,
I knew not what to do.
I had closed my heart, praying you would survive,
To love again, seemed taboo.

Time flew by and my hope began to dwindle,
Though I still clutched at your small chance.
But soon all was left was a flickering candle,
Quivering in its uncertain dance.

What was I to think, I was torn,
Should I love again or retain my faith?
Surrender hope or stay lovelorn,
Or choose another to take your place?

My anguish one morn was put to an end, 
When finally, I learned,
That I had to let go, could not pretend,
For I was awaiting one who would never return.

The letter came that fateful day,
To tear you and I apart.
But 'Nam was not where the fighting truly lay,
The real war was within my heart.

Reviews

[Alessander]

This has the feeling of a ballad, and the repitition of the first stanza (more or less) I think puts this in that genre. It tells a story cleanly, without much obfuscation or elaborate rhetoric or dense diction. The rhymes were solid, I wasn't even bothered by "fiction"/"action" like I normally would be lol

I once read that "A tragedy is never based on a character having to choose between a virtue and a vice, but rather between two competing virtues, like love of family, or love of country" and I found the stanza debating between "faith" and "love", or even "reason" and "emotion" the most interesting part of this piece. The theme "all is fair in love and war" also popped to mind...anyhow, nice write.

The only suggestion I can offer is that you fit this into a proper ballad format, but that's up to you, naturally.

[Serenity]

the sad part is that its so true, people think that the war over there is brutal but the true wars rage on in our hearts, not knowing what to do, the fear of losing someone we love. Hoping our loved ones come back, recieving that letter may be horrible but it makes you stronger, it makes you a stronger person inside.

[Forever Mine Poetry]

This is one of the sadest poems I have ever read. A love so great that not even war could tear them apart, even when he was MIA- she still believed and loved. This sounds like me, loving my fiance so much you can't let go even though you know you should.

- Forever Mine

[LadyKarissa]

I know what it is to be torn apart by death. I lost my bf of 12 years. He did not die over in Vietnam but I had to make the decision to take him off life support and watch him die in front of my already broken heart. I knew there was no hope for him to recover. I still have trouble with the decision I made three years ago but people assured me I did what was right. I still don't know. Lucie

[Solitary Dreamer]

Tht was so touching. I loved it:)

[PyroKitty24]

What a sad, yet sweet story this was! I enjoyed reading it and stayed interested the whole time. These are my favorite types of poems too~ And the story-line through it was good, and we could truly feel the emotion coming off of this poem.

Made me tear up. It was very touching and I could not imagine ever going through that. Beautiful poem

[Macy A. Brown]

Great poem.
You almost made me cry. Very good vocabulary

[Hunter C. Brown]

this is a beautiful poem. you really feel your sorrow and despair

[Sukriti Suki]

This is so dark, deep and touching. My soul almost shed a tear.

[LeaflessTree]

This is my favorite piece of writing