Yellow Ribbon

darkness envelopes
as she sits in her chair
before the fire
light flickers dispassionately
on her still form
perhaps–had she known
she would have cried out
in rage or grief
maybe silent tears would have
fallen
on her hands

still, she sits
a quandary of a smile
playing on her face
she may be remembering
how he looked
in his hat, pressed suit
white gloves, bright metals
catching her kisses
boarding the ship
parting salute
sailing into the horizon
with the sun on his back
and the moon low in the sky
his letters are strewn on the floor by her feet
a yellow ribbon
caught
on the strap of her shoe

and she forgets
how his last breath
was stolen in enemy seas
the fire looks hazy
through elderly eyes
sometimes yesterday overshadows today
shadows and darkness
take over the mind
synapses misfire

she smiles
still feeling his arms around her
last night
when he called out her name
and she knows
any moment
he is coming home.