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The Last One
(The time of year and the weather is just about right for this one...)
The Last One
The sun has set - the gray sky faintly rose;
The fall semester reached its winter close.
The long term papers all are handed in,
The campus empty, students bound for kin.
No faculty or staff remain around;
Street lights gleam as snow falls on the ground.
The empty pathways searched by careful eye
Of one young man at frosty window high.
The chapter house is empty but for him,
The fireplace yet bright with one last limb.
His vigil long went on at window cold,
The shadows filled with shapes of friendships old.
He sees the school year passed, the work, the fun-
The milestones reached, the long way yet to run.
An ember snaps - the silence of the tomb
Recalls him to the empty living room.
Behold the ghosts of brothers laughing near,
Their love and trust, an almost unseen tear.
A multitude of memories now blends
Haunting presence of his absent friends.
The fire dies, descends the winter gloom,
His heart more empty even than the room.
"Their friendship is the highest human worth,
I miss them all, now scattered cross the earth -
Each brother homeward bound by road or air..."
He bowed his head and paused in silent prayer.
The front door creaks, the hall is full of light,
His younger brother's hat is full of white.
A flame darts up again from embers fanned;
While cold grows warm as hand grasps into hand.
"I'm done at last! The final ran so late,
I'm glad to see you didn't mind the wait."
The snow fell gently as they packed their load,
Then homeward bound, they drove on down the road.
And as they passed the trucks and other cars
The Christmas light shone on them from the Stars.
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