OLD WOODEN CHEST

She walks the rest home halls with her wooden cane
They offered, but she refused to use a wheel chair
On stormy days, she would sit and watch the falling rain
When asked if she was okay, she would just smile.

Some folks said that she probable couldn't speak
She would sit by the hours watching her small TV
Other people said she could talk, but she had nothing to say
She would just rub the chain on her neck that held a key.

In her room there was a small locked brown wooden chest.
Scrawled in ink across the top were the words "DO NOT TOUCH."
It was always beside her when she lay down to rest.
Her gnarled fingers embraced it close to her wilting body.

One morning she lie dead on the bed with a smile across her face
The box was opened, and on top, a letter dated 1945, the third of June,
a Purple Heart, a folded Flag and piece of yellow paper, folded a thousand times.

A hurried hand written note that simply read." Honey, I will be home soon."

---RJ