Poem for WOL comp

 

The met on Pearl Harbour night.

Dressed in red from lipstick to heel

She swayed cool grooves

On the floor of the dancehall.

He was on leave, his bowler hat

Tipping in jives.

 

They kissed, danced, everything else,

Spent the week in luxurious unity,

Mutual bliss, love.

 

Until his time was up, the war

Ripped them in half, a promise

Set in stone to return

And live forever.

 

As the war went on

Nothing was forgotten

Advancing towards Berlin

With a photograph, a promise

And a tear in the scope.

 

Then there was silence in Europe.

He returned a broken man, searching

For the last piece but she was nowhere.

And he waited at the dancehall

Dissolving into wrinkles.

 

5, 10, 37

Years.

Moved across the street.

Window with a view of everything he needed.

 

Remembrance day came, now an old man

Patient as a flower in decline

He read his soul

Out to the crowd, wiped his eye

And stepped off the stage.

 

A hand touched his shoulder from behind.

His bent back twitched and turned around.

It was her.

His beautiful past, his missing piece,

His future.