In your widow’s ‘weeds’, I watch 

Searching your face for a hint of the pain 

that tears at my heart 

I see only a blank canvas 

Tis I, to whom he pledged his troth 

so long ago, exchanged vows 

Uniting two as one, according 

to the holy Word of God 

A union made in Heaven 

’Til you! With youthful guile 

enticed from the bosom of family. 

No thought or care 

for the trail of hearts 

left broken in your wake 

Fragile as eggshell, 

shattering into a thousand pieces upon the floor 

Did you ever feel a twinge of guilt? 

Or hear a child’s anguished cry 

that faded into the empty night

Your shallow words filter my thoughts, 

Bemoaning riches that might have been yours, 

had you said, ‘yes!’ 

His wealth, the measure of your love.