Lying here in the predawn dark
My thoughts are filled with you
As I breathe your scent
Infused into your pillow.
Are you thinking of me, too?
When you deployed
I had given you
A small trinket box
Bearing a small photo
From our wedding day,
And a lock of my hair
Tied up in a slim yellow ribbon.
Do you cherish it
As you had said you would,
Your hazel eyes tearing momentarily
Before you pulled me close
Into a final, strong embrace,
Then disappeared out the door.
You said you'd be gone a year,
Twelve endless months
In a place fraught with danger;
Eight have now passed
And I live for your letters,
The infrequent emails,
And the occasional skype.
You never talk about
Exactly what you do there.
Selfishly, I am glad,
For I'm sure if I knew
I would surely lose my mind
With worry more pronounced
Than I suffer now,
And I refuse to waste
What precious time we have
With a litany of my troubles
Here at home.
For us, there's only love to share
With words of longing and intimate promises
Amidst the barest of descriptions
Of our day to day lives.
O my darling!
How will I survive
These four more months
Without you?

Yes, Dearest,
I also think of you,
My heart and mind remembering
Your brown eyes slumberous
In the afterglow
Of our lovemaking,
Your smile, soft and sated,
Your heart beating
Against mine.
We had often discussed
Starting our family
As part of a distant future,
And now, I think,
The time has come
For the future to become
Our present.
I see you holding
Our newborn,
Profound proof of our love
And our devotion to each other.
Will you agree to share
This precious dream,
To open yourself fully
To all we can be, together?
I do not tell you
Of all I've seen,
All I've experienced,
Nearly every day I have
Been here,
But it's impressed upon me,
As nothing ever has,
How exquisite life is,
How vital it is
To hang on to all that is good
And pure between us,
For you are my reason for living,
My past, my present, and,
God willing, my future.
I love you, Babe,
And I promise
To hurry home as soon as I can.