The telegram
by cricketjeff on November 28, 2009. © Jeff Green, All rights reserved
On her cheeks the sadness sparkled, though she hid it in a smile
And pretended to be happy he was hers for just a while.
Though a week is not a lifetime it was all they had to share
And tomorrow he was leaving for the fight in who knows where
It had been a lovely wedding with his uniform well pressed
In a borrowed flounce of beauty she had felt superbly dressed
As her father held her stiffly and her mother almost cried
They had promised one another they would love until they died
Then a night and day of passion all she dreamed and now knew more
On the bed, then on the table, in a chair and on the floor
Just the thought brought back her blushes and a tingle in her heart
For their final night together they would practice this fine art
Back to building tanks tomorrow, back to war and ordered life
For a soldier all is duty but tonight they’re man and wife
Have they started reproducing are there children on the way
For tonight it doesn’t matter those are words they cannot say
It is six and he is leaving held her tight up to the last
That’s the memory she’s holding though it’s buried in the past
In the telegram they gave her there are words she hasn’t read
Is he coming home to kiss her, or in a foxhole, dead?
English