Picture a young woman receiving news that her husband was killed in a war. What emotions are going through her as she must live the rest of her life without the one she loves? The poem is an observation of what she might be feeling.
To Love What I Can Never Have Again:
I remember the look on her face
When she found out her husband was dead
She threw herself face down on the ground
Throwing dirt over her face and head
She tore her garment very slightly
Meant to symbolize her broken heart
The significance of this action
Her days of grief are about to start
Faded love letters that she treasured
She watches them burn in the fire
No more will she read his words of love
He was the object of her desire
She holds the necklace he gave her
Like a rosary, tight in her hand
The terrible pain she's going through
Only a widow could understand
The shadows playing games on the walls
Create illusions within her mind
It is wrong to bring back memories
Shadows of memories so unkind
She remembers happier moments
That floods with passion inside her heart
But she must accept the painful truth
Until her death they will be apart
Her face is like a swollen river
Her tears fall like rain, touching the sea
Her face covered with a black veil
Like a silhouette, so hard to see
Relatives escorts their young daughter
The offspring of consumated love
She hides her face from the others
She looks for him in the sky above
They walk slowly down to the river
The procession moves in the twilight
She bows and lays a paper lantern
Inside a candle to give it light
The wife sends a prayer to her husband
It is time to let her husband go
The lantern travels so quietly
In search of the one who touched her soul
And in the quiet of the gentle river, a lantern gives off a weakened glow; and fades slowly into the night.