Underneath a late summer sky
walking two rambunctious dogs,
who long to break free from the leash,
straining to capture a squirrel,
its taunting and teasing,
with a dance from its tail

Up the winding gravel and stones,
past markers of forgotten souls,
laid to eternal rest,
gone beyond the clouds

One particular stone commanded his attention,
egg shell white,with weathered, marble lettering
over one-hundred years passed, even before his birth
the name chiseled across the stone was, 'Jennie'
no last name was given,
but she was the young wife of a Mr. William,
how he longed to know her then,
only separated by a lifetime,
and a century of death...

Every so often,
he walked passed the stone,
beneath the oak trees,
such silent and proud sentries,
powerful, graceful, solemn
imagining her dancing,
in a calico dress,
long, honey brown hair
tossed gently, side to side
eyes sparkling with silent laughter

Strange to feel this connection,
when he would never have any recollection,
or knowledge of her life,
the hardships she certainly must have faced

Even went on the Internet,
to search for her family name,
lost in some old records,
hiding beyond a century slowly passing

Located a family plot,
but he never found any photographs,
to justify these visions he had,
of a 30-something, young wife,
dancing beneath the oaken canopy

Brought along a camera,
to record her stone marker
remembering this moment forever,
how the sun filtered through the leaves,
kissing the ground with dabs of sunlight

Never to truly know of her passing,
any history at all,
as time neuters the stone,
another century gone,
nothing but a toppled, crumbled marker
no cherished remembrances left,
or humanity to recall

mathiasthom
written 2/27/09