The Day he got that letter he left me for good.
As he opened it I knew, that the one who held my heart in his hands
the keeper of my secrets, would go to fight,
fight on the front lines of a fruitless war.
I begged him not
to leave me here alone.
He smiled “Beth I'll be fine, don't worry I will write every month”.
Then my soldier hugged me,
planted a kiss on top of my head.
As I breathed in his new born baby sent
he slipped from my grasp and strut on to the ship
that would take him to his almost certain demise.

True to his warmth from the fireplace voice
a letter found it was to my grasp the next month.
It ended with I love you.
Warmth swelled in my heart
as new life swelled in my belly.
I never got another letter.

One night, that was as dark as coal
I woke,
a sob sliced in half as tears slithered down my sorrow filled face.
He was dead my keeper
my soldier.
A letter arrived at the door.
A letter telling me what I already know.
The father of the life kicking in my stomach
is dead.