64. Christmas Nights

You're never coming home.

Little kids playing in the yard

This year had been so hard

Now it was coming to an end

She read over the letter she'd never send

She put up the Christmas lights

And waited up on Christmas nights

Imagining him walking through the door

And when he didn't, her heart tore

She'd begged him not to go

Now gazing out the window at the snow

She could almost picture him

But then the lights grew dim

Little kids miss their Daddy

As they huge their dog, Laddie

Who will teach Jimmy how to be a man?

And what about innocent Ann

She knew she'd get remarried someday

To a man who'd maybe stay

She was proud of his sacrifice

But growing old with him would have been nice

She kept his notes from their courtship

So every time she felt her heart rip

She kept the photos to for the kids

She could still see him behind her closed lids

Little kids building snowmen in the yard

All her future dreams had been marred

She turned off the Christmas lights

And fell asleep on those Christmas nights

Author's Note

This poem is about a wife whose husband went off to fight in a war and died in battle. It is my attempt to express her sorrow and even resentment at his decision and death. The names used are completely random, this is not about any real living person. I personally do not know any soliders, so this is just me using my imagination.