What I Should Have Said Then

Remember that night, one of so many of course When the waitress asked if we were on our first date We’d talked for three hours till our voices were hoarse The laughter we shared no one could create It must have been the joy in our hearts she saw For eighteen years there’d been no one who meant more Never for a moment did our love withdraw I joked and said it was the cologne you wore Impotence had rendered you last in some eyes But there was no man who made me happier My affection for you never compromised Of my self-worth, you were the certifier The last time I saw your 95-pound frame As you lay smiling in the hospice bed My adoration I just could not proclaim Couldn’t look back, still wanted to look ahead My head on your hand, tears formed a puddle So much in my heart, but at a loss for words I waited for your angel as we cuddled Finally they arrived, not one, they flew in herds The spirit of contentment shone o’er your face I swear to this day I saw your spirit rise You faced your death with such dignity and grace I could not bring myself to utter goodbyes But now as I pray, the words finally come “God blessed me with a special friend always true And now as I hear heaven’s harps ever strum I know there’ll never be another like you” *For my dear friend Chris who died on Christmas Day 2005 Entry for Gareth's "Last Words to a Loved One" Contest