The Confederate Widow

You are lost to me forever now
For you did not return,
To mend my empty broken heart
Which my love for you has yearned.

Each night is like the others
Spent lying here alone.
I'd humble myself before you
If you could just come home.

I hold your picture close to me
Tears fall freely from my eyes.
Shamelessly I loved you,
To deny it would be but lies.

These fearful dreams never end
They fester like a sore.
Seeping viscous images
Of seeing you no more.

I buried you in Confederate gray
Under a rebel flag.
Stood there with a vacuous stare
And felt my body sag.

A mournful wind wails a tune
It seems to feel my pain.
Standing in this hallowed field
A kiosk shields me from the rain.

To confine you to this loathsome hole
Is more than I can bare.
Once more I'd love to show you
Just how much I care.

I weep for you my darling
As you lie there in the cold.
I picture moonlight on your hair
When we were young and bold.

The voluntary path you chose
Of fighting in this war,
Leaves me crying every day
That I'll not see you anymore.

You were a model of perfection
In your uniform of gray.
I pray for those who slew you
And took your love from me...away.

So often I have visited
This gathering of the dead.
Where brothers fought each other
And lie planted in this bed.

Each row of white gardenias
Carved with a soldiers name.
Will never, ever smell as sweet
As the flower of love's refrain.