If there was a graveyard for dead marriages

I’d choose a monument of the hardest and most colorful granite

to signify both the beautiful story of our happiest days

and the cold, hard ending of our marriage hitting the wall—

an unexpected sudden death.

I’d stand at the altar of memory

honoring the intent of commitment—

more successful than many but yet failing the test of time…

My heart would ache with regret

as the pages of our story slowly pass before my eyes

revealing new chapters, new dimensions—

but all stories have endings, some happy and others not…

The epitaph might read

Miraculously found

Tragically lost

I’d carefully place trinkets of remembrance—

greeting cards, photographs, album covers,

ticket stubs, passport stamps, Christmas ornaments

and emotionally acquired art.

Tears spilling from the deepest suffering,

watering the tree planted in memory of a marriage dead-ended.