Ron Ryan

A SOLDIER’S RAINBOW

She looks to reconnect and she will at any cost;
She hurriedly makes her way thru the New York City frost
Trying desperately to find a love long ago lost

It’s hard to believe
At this age she still wears her heart on her sleeve
She slides awkwardly thru the streets wondering what ever made her leave
His heart this time is what she hopes to retrieve
It’s what she prays to achieve

10 below freezing. An old man wheezing. A pretty girl sneezing

Snowflakes, like her memories, are different yet seem the same
She knows she’s not guilty, yet she still carries blame
Of two frozen hearts in which she blew out the flame

Rain turns to snow. Just as it did 34 years ago
Only after that rain there was no sun and there was no rainbow
“Please show me a sign, Lord. Which way should I go”?

The snow feels like hail. A love searching to set sail. A siren begins to wail

She worries he won’t remember that they parted in December
Or could it have been September? It was snowing when that flame had lost its ember

Take the subway or take the train?
Snow shoots down like bullets not like frozen rain

A million footsteps slipping. An elderly man tripping. A frozen heart dripping

She traveled from coast to coast
Vigilant for a lovely ghost
Seeking that one man that she had once loved the most

Hearts and weather are impossible to forecast
Roses and snowflakes, they never really last
Before you know it, they’ve passed. Love and winter go by way too fast

Wars, however, seem to last pretty long
They’ve made many men feel like they just don’t belong
“Stand strong, even though they think that it’s wrong”
They were his mantra that he sang all along. Shouting into the night his unheard song

A technologically advanced suitor. Reunited via computer
Once was a soldier, he’s now a love recruiter
Her heart impaled from an arrow wielding shooter

Her toes are frozen and she’s confused about the paths that they’ve chosen

34 years. She had left without a trace
A note on a table. Not even a warm embrace
Not even a kiss upon his face

“Hi, it’s me Beth”
She rehearses with her foggy breath
Temperatures drop to 1 degree above death

Longing hearts pounding. Memories resounding
Of a love once astounding
“Hello, it’s me Beth”, this time unaware of how it’s sounding

Snowflakes falling in formation. She stops and gives a donation
To a one armed man who gave for his nation
Asking him for directions out of frustration. He kindly hands her a carnation

“Hi, It’s me Steve. This time, please don’t leave”

Her heart had skipped a beat. Immediately, Steve felt complete
A good soldier never will retreat
Two old, yet new lovers, headed down the street

Snow turned to rain as it melted their pain
Once their eternal loss was now their Heavenly gain
Love seeped thru cracks and crevices of their hearts at levels seemingly insane
“Beth, should we take the subway?” “Steve, let’s walk in the rain”

Arm and arm like once before. Hearts skipping beats, but not keeping score
They stop at a store that they used to adore
And Steve’s consumed by a feeling he can no longer ignore

Temperatures coming to life. Steve gets on a knee and asks for a wife

He cries tears of joy. Only tears that a love sick little boy could enjoy
Savoring a moment even an enemy cannot destroy

Captured long ago as he tried to take a grassy hill
He was held for 3 years, 2 against his will
You see, for 365 days, Steve prayed it was him they would kill

Now stealing a kiss and enjoying the thrill
He prays now that his heart would just stand still
A good soldier always follows the drill. Hearts on fire in the New York City chill

They laugh and then slowly walk thru the snow
Steve stops, points up, and says
“Look Beth, a Soldier’s RAINBOW”

As the sun began to shine, Beth argued, “No, Steve, I do believe it’s mine”

“It is possible that a man or a woman once brought to their knees
can stand tall once again and see the forest from the trees”