Poem

Pictures Come Back

Pictures come back to me
Of you standing in the kitchen
Sick, leaning against the counter,
Of you in the bathroom, pale,
And my question of were you ill?
How brave you were, denying to me
That you were dying,
Falling away from the earth,
Trying to protect me as you always
Did, afraid I couldn't cope
With your loss, your death.

Pictures in my mind, my memory
Flooded with you so often,
I wish I could erase the pain
In my heart with emptiness.

Pictures come back to me
Of you happy, sad, lost in a fog
Of yesterday, bound for eternity.

You are gone forever, but you
Will always be in my heart,
In my thoughts, my husband,
You are beyond the realm
Of time, lost to me forever.

Yet I often find I can never
Get these pictures out of my mind
For they come back, suddenly...
Pictures of you working on the barn
Or grooming your horses tenderly,
You loved them always, dearly,
More than me, more than life.

For you, your one true passion
And I knew it, so I could not
Say no, and I fear my compliance
Led to your death.

Pictures come back to me
And always will, forever,
As long as I live and breathe,
My cross to bear, my burden,
Pictures say what you could not...
Bravery, courage is often
Silent and accepting of fate.