Sullivan and Sarah

The heat of summer

beats against my temple

as your spirit hovers,

a softest breeze against check and eye.

My heart beats

as yours cannot.

Wilt thou seek me now,

as I seek you?

I know not where you have fallen,

but I felt the hour of it,

the precise moment when soul left,

to touch me here in my loneliness and grief.

The boys sleep now,

tender in dream and thought,

innocence streaming

into a world I no longer know

or understand.

How do I help them

to know the father--

the man you are--

That you so loved,

have given all you had to give.

And I,

I stand mute witness

and pray for a better day,

one in which I hold you

in a world where none

are treated unjustly.

On that day,

I pray that we find each other

again.

Go now in peace.

Your loving wife,

Sarah.

copyright/all rights reserved Audrey Howitt 2012.

Sullivan Ballou wrote a letter to his wife, Sarah, just days before his death at Bull Run. It is known as the famous "Sullivan Ballou" letter. Sullivan Ballou speaks to his love of Sarah, his love of his country and his near certainty that death waits for him in this next battle. I would have liked to have excerpted a small portion of the letter to make this poem more meaningful. But current Hubpages rules prohibit that. Thus, the full letter can be viewed at the link provided. My poem, is my imagined reply.

Please take the time to read Sullivan's letter. It is only one of thousands such letters in perhaps the bloodiest war in U.S. history.