How could he leave

She sits there on the sidewalk

Her head falls in her hands

She’s trying to sort this whole thing out somehow

She’s struggling not to fall apart

There’s no use in that

But she’s wondering why he had to leave her now

With a baby inside sleeping

In the crib he helped her build

And the future laid before them,

She can see it sparkling still

If she closes her eyes

And pretends this isn’t real…

She takes a breath, gets to her feet

And walks back to the house

Where she’d thought they’d always live her fairy tale

But the empty space in the garage

Where he always parks his car

Grabs her stomach as reality assails her

With a baby inside sleeping

Now that thought fills her with tears

He left without a word

Life has brought the worst of her fears

How could it all be gone

They’d worked for all these years?

She opens the door, walks back inside,

Then shuts it without a sound.

On the counter there’s a single slip of paper.

She reads it again, the words are blurred

But in them the truth is found:

He’s gone, and he won’t be coming home later.

With a baby down the hallway,

And his picture on the wall

How could he just leave her

Without a final curtain call?

Her courage fails

As again she starts to bawl…

A couple hours later,

She walks slowly down the hall

She tries to clear her mind of everything that’s happened.

As she cracks open the door

And sees her little porcelain doll

Like an angel in her crib, carelessly napping.

As she watches her baby sleeping,

She drops down on her knees

Her heart is falling with her,

And she’s begging, “Father, please,

For my baby’s sake,

Wake me up from this bad dream…”

The days they drag, her shoulders sag

Her friends don’t know what to say.

The light in her eyes has been replaced by pools of tears.

But as she stays on her knees longer,

She’s comforted as she prays,

And with a smile, her burden slowly disappears.

As she sees her baby sleeping

In the crib he helped her build

And the future laid before her,

She can see it sparkling still

As she closes her eyes

And thanks the Lord for helping her feel

Alright as she steps out onto the curb

She’s gonna let him know what’s on her mind.

Not full of fright as she pulls the paper

From her pocket and reads the crumpled, taped up lines:

“There was no saving the man as his car went tumbling

Over the guard rail, hydroplaning in the pouring rain.

There was no evidence of speeding,

just a young man lying there bleeding

As the EMTs rushed up to ease his pain.

But he was gone; all that was left was his cold frame.”

She stands there on the sidewalk

And looks down at the ground

Where the new laid sod is covering her love.

She tells him, “We’ll get by,

And I know that you’ve found

A place for us in the mansions up above.

“The baby’s at home sleeping

In the crib you helped me build

With your mother babysitting,

So I could come here on this hill,

And tell you that I love you,

And that I’ll be loving you until…

Until the day when I get to see you again.

Until the day we get to see you again.

Copyright 2011. Jennifer Rollins.