Always & Forever

He greets the dawn each morning

Smiles, behind a fresh bouquet

Sweet songs, hummed,

serenading

’Side the bed where she long lay

Devotion, spanning many years,

Waxing a century,

Shedding youth and countless

tears

Entwined, their destiny

Early on in married life,

They struggled — poor as dirt

So young, they, looking eye to

eye

Exchanging vows, rehearsed

Surviving war and hardship

True love, enduring time

Even when to sleep she drifts

He’s right there by her side

Caretakers expect him

For he’s never missed a day

And, Sunday’s with the Lord’s

hymn

Sharing scriptures as she lay

Some wonder, as they watch him

Seated there, in his lawn chair

His lasting, strong devotion

Beyond weather, fierce or fair

“She’s never died, my bride,

You see, forever, we are married”

Soft spoken, tearful eyes

Fixed on the grave where she lay,

buried

A careful watch he’ll keep

With endless love for his dear bride

Until he finds her in his sleep

Beyond the other side

Inspired by the True Love Story of John and Vivian McFalls

Originally posted as “Love in a Lawn Chair” last year on Prose.