Lynn C. Price

A SLOW DANCE IN TIME

“Forgive me for asking, but, could I have this dance?
I’ve watched you all evening and thought I’d take the chance,
The next one’s a slow tune, I’ve asked them to play,
One from my memories to chase nightmares away.”

She carefully marked the page she had been reading:
“Sir, I do thank you and hope my words aren’t misleading,
I come here often to escape life’s cold, lonely rain,
I can see in your eyes you feel the same pain.

Yes, I’d be honored to waltz across Texas with you,
I know the band well, and a slow one will do.”
He led the way out onto the dance floor,
His arms felt inviting, “Have I seen you before?”

“Your face is familiar and you have the same eyes,
As the woman I’ve loved all of my life.
The last time I held her was in this same place,
I shipped out that evening, war could never erase.

I wrote many letters but never got one,
I guess she grew tired of waiting on me to come home.”
Her heart beating faster, she turned away to hide,
The tears of great sadness for a love that never died.

She picked up the book that lay on the chair,
“Sir, this is yours; you’ll find her in there.
The lady you speak of died one year ago today,
Your letters she kept near her, carefully hidden away.

Her Father was angry when he found her with child,
Although he forbade it, your words made her smile.
She asked me to write a book about you,
Gone, not forgotten; her love for you was true.”

He looked down at the book, then at this young lady,
“You are my daughter, she was carrying my baby.”
Separated by time and the years that flew by;
A lifetime of memories shared with a slow dance in time.