I once dated a woman
Briefly for a month or two
With four years to live
So the doctors said

She was vibrant
Living large on hard-earned dimes
Intent on living well
Before her mind was lost

Our first night together
Thanksgiving eve long ago
We talked 'til past the sun was up
Of life and hope and dreams

She wanted children
A man to raise them well
(Not like the ones she'd known)
When she was gone

It was hard to share that dream
Alone from that point on
With all the weight of fatherhood
But none to share the load

I was willing though afraid
To take such an awesome plunge
Join her on her march to short horizons
Then find a way in lands beyond

But a few weeks later she was stricken
With a painful minor blight
She would not see me, shut me out
Dropped her job and disappeared within a night

Half a scant year later she called me
And I traveled long to reach her side
Crying she told me she did not want me
To see her in such pain

While there she introduced me
To the man she'd chosen now
Four years were passing quickly
She could not wait to sew

It was the last I saw her
Awkward moments in a ward
The simple loutish boyfriend at her side
Few words spoken but to wish her joy

I would not reprimand her
She had enough to bear
But how, my heart moaned, could she do that
When we'd planned to battle cold despair

She is likely gone now
Four years having passed since then
Yet I know nothing of her fate
Likely never will again