A Bookmark

A dog-eared bookmark
A half-read book
On the bedside of a dead man
A life half-writ, half-read
Half-done, half-said
Half-comprehending
A wife sits
Superintending
Half-loved, half-hated
Half-admired, half-despised
Sorrow seeping from her eyes
To everyone's surprise.

Where they met?
One half-century ago
Across the street
Lanterns through curtains
A look - a book
A bookmark marks the place
In life, to which they got.

Oceans of emotion
Swell beneath the waves
He, half an admiral of his feelings
She, half a slave.

A dog-eared bookmark
A half-read book
On the bedside of a dead man
A life half-writ, half-read
Half-done, half-said
Half-comprehending
A wife sits
Superintending.

Then through the hospice walls
She hears the holy cry
Of a city celebrating
Its latest king and queen
Hear them ring!
Those wedding bells!
How they chime and sing
And she smiles, to her surprise
At the joy they bring.