I approached the old steel bridge
which stretched accross the frozen
lake in the misty morn of December..
In the pocket of my old coat my hand
clenched tightly the note I had held
for weeks..
I reached and pulled my colar tight to
my neck as seagulls skid accross the
ice shores of this snowbound land..
The sun was but a pale light illumining
a gray skyscape..
Many times we had walked to the center
of this bridge and gazed at the stary
night..
But life had called her to distant shores
where the army was in need of nurses..
The wounded were coming in droves and
the war seemed to stretch on forever..
Her military picture was all I had and for
two years I would sit on my steps gazing
at an image who kept my heart beating in
lonely dark nights..
But we had made plans to reunite on our
favorite bridge..our secret place of
meeting..
She said she would be returning home soon
yet for three weeks I've returned to this
bridge to find only a cold walkway and the
the squalks of the gulls..
It seemed tonight would be no different
and I tired of the painfully cold wind
and the chilling cold steel railings on
the bridge..
I turned and began walking home and at
the far end of the bridge a figure moved
toward me with graceful stride..
Not sure..I thought..
My head perked up and my gait tried to
match the graceful stride of this
stranger..
It seemed..yes..perhaps it was..
It appeared to be ..It was a military
uniform!
My heart began beating faster!
I could see that smile!
The hair was short but I knew that walk!
Twenty yards away she began humming that
secret tune we shared..
I couldn't contain myself..I ran..she was
running!
We collided like like lost lovers in paradise..
For five minutes we clung
for dear life in each others arms..
I was crying..she was crying, and through our
choked tears and cold winter kisses she kept
whispering, 'I am home my love, I am home..'
We walked accross the bridge in snuggled embrace
and I reached down in my pocket and tossed the
note to the wind..
A gull swooped down and snatching the note soared
accross the icy lake-
The note simply read: We'll meet in December~