A Sad Return Poem by David Harris

There are many sad tales
of trains taking people away,
either to fight a war
or just to runaway.
As the train pulled into the station yesterday
there disembarked a passenger
who had been for a long time
on far distant shores.
Coming home to see his family
after years of being away.
He ran along to his door,
tried to inser his key into the lock,
but the key no longer fit.
He knocked on the door.
Strange faces answered it
of people he did not know.
He asked about his wife and son
who used to live there
not all that long ago.
The couple looked at each other
and offered him in for a cup of tea.
When he was comfortable,
they broke the sad news to him.
His wife and son were no longer living
because she could not live without him
she took her own life and their son as well.
He would find their graves
in the cemetery at the bottom of the hill.
As he places some flowers on their graves,
he said a little prayer
for God to look after them
until he too would meet them
at heaven’s door.