Forever Friend

Forever Friend

Each morning with the sunlit dew

The Robin sings and calls to you 

The breeze blows through the old oak tree 

Whispering softly, floating free

The mountains in the distance lie

The willow weeps 

The black birds fly 

Above the branches climbing high 

The life within that will not die 

Memories echo bygone days 

When evening lurks in misty haze 

The starlit sky, the end of day 

The light that glows to show the way 

Forever and this lifetime past 

My love for you shall always last 

'Til morning comes around again 

You’re with me still, forever friend 

Poem by Kathleen Prue

A Gift of Love

A gift of Love 

 

Winter snow that softly falls on silent sleeping towns 

Each curtain drawn

While home fires burn  

In silent sleeping towns 

How fast away the days do fade 

For winter’s grip comes swift and strong 

Reminding her of endless days 

The sleepless nights 

The worried dawn 

Each snowflake carries on the wind 

A kiss of love sent out to him 

The kiss is not to touch his skin 

It floats and flies 

Then drifts within 

A gray and quiet circled maze 

Then floats along to rest and lay 

Upon the cold and broken stone 

A love though hushed 

Is not alone 

Deep within a thousand tears 

To last and last through all the years 

The gift of love and sacrifice 

To take the place of one lost life 

Far away the snow drifts down 

Upon the silent sleeping town 

Poem by Kathleen Prue

The poem above is from the perspective of a grieving mother as she drifts off to sleep on the eve of a snowstorm, dreaming of her son who will never return from the Civil War. I have visited and photographed many graves of Civil War soldiers over the years and have always been struck by the sadness the families of these soldiers must have felt at the loss of their sons. I have also read many accounts during my research and it has had a profound effect on me. 
 

Major Miles McDonald

    I first discovered this grave on a walk through the beautiful and picturesque St. Agnes Cemetery in Menands, New York, during the fall of 2020. We were smack in the middle of the pandemic and taking advantage of every chance we had to get outdoors in the beautiful autumn weather to explore.

    The sun always seems to shine down in some particularly divine way when I am visiting this final resting place. My camera is full and my heart overflows with the peacefulness I feel here. When surrounded by thoughts of the ultimate unknown, I barely pause for a moment to question my belief in what comes after we leave this life. So often I stand at the top of the hill, look out at the beauty that surrounds me and breathe in the magic. I run my fingers along the cold stone letters of this soldier's monument and read them each as if I were a first time visitor to this place. I am alive! Everything that came before on this day suddenly melts into perspective. My heart breaks for this soldier, for the life he never had a chance to live. My soul is grateful for the gift of knowing he existed. I will always keep talking about him. He deserves to be remembered. 

I wrote and submitted a story about Miles McDonald for the Dearly Departed Series of the Albany Diocesan Cemeteries Blog. Read it HERE