A dead soldier
A tale of love, longing and loss.
“When the war is over, we'll get married and the earth will grow flowers like you, and your womb will carry the most beautiful girl in the universe”—A letter found in the pocket of one of the dead soldiers, 1939.
Seated upon the porch steps, I let my eyes whisk across the horizon. The dawn was beginning to unfurl, painting the skies with a soft gold and blending seamlessly with the last sighs of the lingering night. The breeze carelessly swayed to its own tune, stirring the trees into a slow dance and enveloping the air with the sweet petrichor of the soggy earth. It grazed my skin with a wary gentleness, threading through my hair and whispering up my neck like a secret left unsaid. I hugged my body as I denied the searing ache rising from the depths of my heart.
“Four hundred twenty seven days”— I said under my breath, the silence around me deafening as the wind carried my words away ever so gracefully, almost as if they had never been spoken. I felt the familiar piercing sensation settle deep in my chest again. Yet another day with no sight of return. The fear, the loneliness was crumpling me from the inside—It was almost unbearable. I took a shuddering breath, clinging to a promise long made. “He’ll come back”— I reassured myself.
The days pass by all the same, except they grow heavier. I seek solace in the memories of the past, in the fragile hope of the future—yet somehow, the burning sense of longing finds me all over again.
When do I see you again…
There's a longing l've buried deep within Untold and unknown Camouflaged into the scenery And growing like the seed i’ve never sown As the days go by Draping the scenery with its frosted blues A heaviness bestowed on me Crumpling me under its ruthless shoes Clad in veritable loyalty You stand there all smiles, all proud It aches me to the core, for nothing i do Will undo the destiny that is vowed Buried is the longing to see you Burning under the light of uncertain flame What I know is under every changing scenery Will you have me waiting for you all the same
- a promise of a lover