To see a red rose mysteriously changes what I can see,

Magic takes place where I stand it is truly a mystery,

I see your precious red lips that need no embellishment,

The perfect canvas for His hand is no doubt heaven sent,

So precious is your face created with skin that’s perfection,

Your high cheek bones accent your nose with no correction,

I make way to your beautiful eyes that have particles of me,

The hazel lines within what seems crystal is made perfectly,

The arch of your brows is a meticulous accent of your eyes,

Time has perfected your hair with gray that perfectly applies,

Fifty years ago I felt no need for perfection of such beauty,

Yet now the small lines of time accent your face as if by duty,

The passion I feel within your grasp was never felt before,

Although exhausted your touch ignites my need for more,

A heart that’s pierced by the ties of past, present, and future,

Is forever bound by love to regenerate the ties and to nurture,

Is love at first sight a reality or a recognition of love past,

The moment I saw you there was no doubt the die was cast,

My dreams of you came long before I saw you standing there,

From age fourteen I dreamed of you with long and flowing hair,

How love at first sight occurs is insignificant after fifty years,

Because of loving you through the years I have shed few tears,

What heartbreak I’ve known was dampened by loving you,

I have fought and will continue to fight everything I go through,

I walk life’s path secure with your hand placed tightly in mine,

The path has been far too short using our measurements of time,

I woke wondering how I can find more time to spend with only you,

I must make each grain of sand larger to slow how it flows through,

As ridiculous as it sounds I exaggerate to signify desperation’s need,

You have aged as expected of an angel as such I have seen you succeed,

We experienced the unknown as only through love could it be done,

In my hardest moment I astral projected to the safety of my only one,  

I felt my soul lift from my body as pain and blood loss became a gateway,

Desperately my heart was in need of you such that instantly I was far away,

Love is a magnetism that pulls the heart to complete the match until done,

I felt the charge of your pull that November as across the hill you did come,

As you drew closer the tingling sensation of magnetic force pulled inside,

Surely you felt it too as through time we felt something was to coincide,  

Two hearts beating as one to reuniting what have occurred long ago,

I dream of you from past lives long ago that are more than dreams I know,

The analogy I use of rust and gold holds so very true as I am worn,

And you my angel are gold, you carry more beauty each day since born,

No man knows his worth better than I do as I am aware of my failures,

To compare us by metals using gold to steel is the best of measures,

As a young draftee my strength grew to that of steel as needed for war,

I enjoyed my training to such an extreme that I always wanted more,

My youth had experienced little other than sports to grow in stature,

In hind sight I’d not have excelled above others had I known my future,

I am true of steel that has worn through in so many places from rust,

As I grow old it seems as if I am decaying beyond rust to become dust,

And you my gorgeous angel remain gold with little tarnish known,

And still what steel remains of me will protect gold as I have shown,

I’ve seen the night, so woeful is the night of my final fight,

A small time crook is the cause when my soul takes flight,

Burglarizing our home as we slept until he strikes fear in your heart,

As a measurement of his safety he attempted to pull us far apart,

I heard your frightened screams forcing early action before harm came,

As I came he fired his weapon into me while adrenaline changed the game,

A hurricane of flurry came from my aged and worn body in final hurrah,

With the burglar unconscious he is bound then the blood of rust you saw,

What they say is true as it is the second time I’m shot but I didn’t know,

It seems as if the surge of adrenaline blocks the pain making it slow,

Upon realization it is quite intense this pain could be the final blow,

I lay upon the bed after placing towels upon the sheets a bit too slow,

You cry asking what I’m doing because you know exactly my thought,

Guilt and fear have filled your heart as you know it was for you I fought,

Time is precious, I utter as I fall in bed needing your naked mounds,

I utter “let me hold you close my angel and hear your little sounds,”

We kiss the kiss that started it all so long ago upon my sister’s bed,

Your tongue excites me but alarms go off inside my mind instead,

We both are in need of care as your screams came from knife insertion,

Now I need to kill him if only I could stand but it takes too much exertion,

I don’t want to sleep nor do I want you to sleep as I fear the end,

“I might fall asleep” I hear as I reply “sleep angel so you can mend,”

Knowing this is the end I pray with you and whisper “close your little eyes,”

As darkness overtakes me I see my angel waiting in the night skies.

The end.