THE YOUNG WIDOW

THE YOUNG WIDOW

Her last promise

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FOR PT, MY BFF

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I heard all the whispers and saw all the looks.

I’m sure she heard some of them, too.

She was only keeping a promise she made.

What else was there she could do?

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“How could she?” they asked too many times.

“How dare she?” they wanted to scold.

They never asked, so they didn’t know

She was doing what she had been told.

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“Promise me,” he said as he took his last breath.

“Promise me you won’t sit and mourn.

You’re too young to sit home alone every night.

I don’t want to be so forlorn.”

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As she held his hand and freely shed tears,

She said, “I love you” and then kissed his cheek.

She held him and whispered the promise he asked,

Then felt his fingers grow weak.

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It hasn’t been long since he left her alone,

And she’s made a difficult choice.

She looked in the mirror and saw a young woman,

And said in a very loud voice:

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“Honey, I’ve loved you all of these years –

And the hell what people might say.

You’re right; I’m too young to be so alone

And now, you’ve gone away.”

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Thus, ignoring the comments by unknowing tongues

Who considered her to be a bad wife,

She fingered her band, before taking it off, and said,

“Hon, I’m getting on with my life!”