How can you lose a love
Then stay alive.  Kiss him
Routinely good bye
To learn
In shock
It was farewell.

To watch a smile
Spread on the
Face accustomed to grinning
Only to meet that visage
Again, wIth a tear.

A photo left, of exuberant fun,
All black/and/white when that was all there was,
with skin sheening, eyes sparkling,
Ready for the next shake of hand and slap of back.

The teacher, the husband, the lover beyond compare,
Waiting, wanting the party,
Where chance had turned off the lights,
To begin the revels again.

Heard in the beer halls of heaven,
His laughter
Keeps sweet Jane alive.

Charlene James-Duguid
Amissville,Virginia