From collection Charity Adams Earley
"I Met You in a World at War"
A typed poem reads "I met you in a world at war. / But the clash of men and weapons was no less than our own conflict. / We waged a futile fight against ourselves at first. / I can not remember when our dispute ended, / Or when your eyes softened as they do now when we meet. / Perhaps, the night you left me in your city; / Our fingers and soft words framed a warm conspiracy / To defeat the quiet pain of that first parting. / We wondered later what strange bond held us firm / Against the transient miles and transient hours. / We clung, despite the distance, to some / Subtle strength between us that evaded definition. / Not free to shape tomorrow's dreams together, / Or breathe the gleaming hopes that would sustain us. / We shared what tenderness we could. / Often, now, I face your memory / And what lies beyond the fragile web of our / Peculiar circumstance, and console myself with this - / Because of you, I stood a little while in the bright / sun, and came closer than before to happiness. / And this maybe all that I shall have because...... / I met you in a world at war."
