The Sorrowful Man

He stood alone
In a wide, empty plain
Hat in his hand
Hair wet with rain.
His eyes
Were downcast
As though any joy
Were far in the past.

His lips trembled
A prayer
Winging on high
Through the damp air.
He pressed his hat
To his chest
Close to his heart
'Neath his worn vest.

The sorrowful man
Was lost in despair
And seemed to me
To be going no where.
Behind him, his horse
Stomped at the grass
As if to say
“This too shall pass.”

At his feet
I noticed a cross
Just a small thing
Marking his loss.
A tear fell
To the ground
On the turned soil
Without making a sound.

After much time
He spun on his heel
Preparing to go
The half turn of a wheel.
Then mounting his horse
He raked a spur down its side
Caught a fresh wind
And off he did ride.

But wet with the rain
Carved in the wood
He’d etched a name
And forever it stood.
“Amelia, my love”
Is all that it said
“Who parted this life
On the day we were wed.”