When he looked at me, I wonder what he saw?
The shy, skinny, beanpole of a girl
who he pinched on the breasts
because she had just started to show?
Or, maybe the woman he asked out a half dozen times
before she relented and said, "Yes"?
Surely not my simple white cotton dress
or the hand-me-down pillbox hat that I wore
on our, Justice of the Peace, wedding day.
Nor that night, when I wept,
and his words filled the air with enough anger,
to quell a lifetime of tears.
I suppose he saw five kids
in eight years, supper always on time,
and spotless linoleum floors.
But did he ever see the woman
he took as his bride, who watched two sons die
unable to show her tears?
Oh, I loved him in my way,
'til the war came and took him,
and brought him back, stretched out flat.
A hero they all praised -- men like him, with chests too big.
But try as I might, I just could not see it --
He was still just a man to me.
In a list
Comments
1 - 14 of 14
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I think far too many families have been torn apart by war(s)...
very nice telling of that sentiment. I think of sad tales of loss and of children who never got to know their father. Very sad write. Thanks for sharing it.
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I am reading this poem again because I like it so much and wanted to say this: war is terrible. Someone should contact all the warmongers and tell them that if they make war, we will blow them to smithereens!
I love your poem because it settles in my mind in such a good way...
The humanity in it is so really splendid.
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A poignant message riveted with truth and beauty.
Where the heart goes, all else fades... and where all else goes, the heart fades. 
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See there you go again, pulling out one of your gem sayings! Thanks!!!!
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This is the best of the contest you didn't enter!
Just the fact you wrote it under a woman's perspective and a widow nonetheless, is already impressive.
The feelings you put here are of very real nature. The normal family life, the joy, the doubts, the pain, the loss, all there.
It's an excellent poem!!!
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These are 60's young people, right,
as assumed by the pill box hat,
not an economical option until
after Jackie Kennedy. Sad, in that
generation of outspokenness,
that neither of them expressed
even a small sense of appreciation.
All those children while being an
Army couple, so he must have been
on base till that last tour.
Perhaps these words would awaken
some who live in complacency,
rather Steppford-like!
Actually, I would like to reach thru
time and shake each of them
to awareness!!
Tragic, but insightful.
M-C
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I should research the coffins, they probably weren't pine back in the, just say, late sixties. If I used that phrase, I meant to. Maybe I changed it. Too lazy to go look, lol. Yes, mid-late sixties sounds right.
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Oh, you didn't mention "coffin" or "pine"
in the lines, so I interpreted "strectched out flat"
to mean stretcher bound, not dead,
making "War Widow" a subtle play
on the wrath of war on the
physical being.
Well, whatever the intent, I see
the plea for appreciation in the piece! -
But you brought out the truth,
no mater the era, that some
ignore the simplest thing
to do, to appreciate each other
and to say so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hmmmmmmmmm--- should we add to the Yemish dictionary project,
a YEMISH APPRECIATION DAY, WEEK, YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Any aye's? -
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Nah, just a bronze statue about 15 feet high will be fine.
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Definitely taller than fictional Beth!
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lol, just a little.
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Tragic tale of just going through the motions of how life if "supposed" to be without taking time to really know those who you're sharing it with.
It seems like a numb existence. Very sad, Yem. Nicely written IMO.
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Yes, it's a numb existence but one I fear too many women suffer.
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