Your presence lingers.

 

Your presence lingers.
Though you rode away to fight the war -
your stallion rearing up in anticipation -
your heart stayed here at home.

Your presence lingers,
Though the persistence of human conflict
has torn you away from loved ones.
Images of you are burnt in my mind.

Your rough hands with tender touch.
Your eyes glinting with mischief.
Your wild, tousled hair reflecting the sun.
The way you threw your head back in laughter.

Your presence lingers.
Your name is spoken every day.
No message has arrived.
Gossip has you at the front.

Another day has come and gone.
The battle scenes are noised about
by those who left and returned.
It's been so long since you left...

Your presence lingers,
Your clothes are losing your scent.
We don't know what to expect.
Some say the foreign King's forces triumph.

The word came this morn,
that our army has been defeated.
That you've been lost in battle,
and will never come home, never.

Still...
Your presence lingers.

©Ellen Pepper 2026