I WAITED FOR YOU FROM MY GRAVE

I WAITED FOR YOU FROM MY GRAVE

We made our promise beneath the willow,
two lovers frightened of being left alone.
If death should ever divide our hearts,
we swore neither would remain behind.
I believed our love could conquer death,
and you believed it too that night.

But death came quietly and took me first,
before either of us was prepared.
I left your arms for a world without light,
yet somehow my love remained with you.
I stood unseen beside my own grave,
and watched you weep as they buried me.

I remembered the promise we had made,
and waited beneath our willow tree.
Night followed night, months became years,
yet you never crossed that line for me.
I could not understand your absence.
You promised we would never be apart.

Seasons passed across my lonely grave.
Snow melted and summer roses returned

I remained trapped between two worlds,
unable to leave and unable to return.
Our promise had become my prison,
and loving you became my eternity.

Then one evening you came back to me,
older now, with silver in your hair.
You rested your hand upon my name,
and tears slipped silently down your face.
“I couldn’t do it,” you whispered softly.
“I wanted to live, but still loved you.”

For years I thought you had betrayed me,
but suddenly I understood everything.
You had carried my memory through life,
instead of following me into death.
And for the first time since I left you,
I was thankful you broke our promise.

I wanted desperately to touch your face,
to tell you never to feel ashamed.
Love should never ask someone to die,
or demand a grave to prove devotion.
You had given me something far greater:
a lifetime in which I was remembered.

You kissed your fingers against my stone,
then slowly turned and walked away.
I reached towards you but touched nothing.
Death would not let me follow you home.
So I returned beneath our willow tree,
where eternity had left me waiting.

Now each year footsteps grow slower,
and each year you stay a little longer.
I no longer wait for you to join me.
I pray life keeps you there awhile.
Grow old for both of us, my darling.
Let nature choose when we meet again.

And when your final day comes peacefully,
perhaps this lonely door will finally open.
I will take the hand I lost long ago,
with no promises except love between us.
You never owed me your death, my darling.