Leaving Imprints

There are some people who leave impressions not so lasting as the imprint of an oar upon the water. Kate Chopin

And then there are those whose imprint resurfaces, quietly, across time. 😊

Leaving Imprints

War, misunderstandings, misgivings,
Loss,
Hurt,
Grief
The quiet spaces between life and death.

Once there,
Suddenly gone.
Found again.
In a history book,
Written,
Researched
By someone who cared.

Discovering
A relative –
A long-gone,
Long-lost
Son,
Brother,
Uncle.

Your plane was shot down,
At the beginning of the war.
And weeks later,
Your body washed ashore,
alone,
the only one
Of your whole crew
To be found.

You didn’t come home,
But you were laid to rest
In England,
Far from where you were born.
And though not your home,
Your grave was cared for,
Kept neat and tidy,
Treated as if you were
Their own lost son
With kindness,
With respect,
For decades.

Your spirit has been
In England
Since the 1940s,
Born on German soil,
But laid to rest
On English ground.

I’ve always wondered why
I felt drawn to these islands.
First the UK,
Then the emerald isle.
Maybe I was meant
To find you,
Find me,
To remember,
To write it down:

We are all
So very much connected
At heart,
In life,
So in death.

And maybe,
One day
We’ll meet again,
When we least expect it.

DD