That Fire
by Dale Garrow 

She had that fire in her eyes

I was told as a young child

That burned into your soul

Who would lie to someone

Just five.

That fire burned bright

Through depressing times

Making do with less

A farmer's wife

The sacrifice a life

Sadness never knew.

That fire burned still

When war called on her oldest boys

Now young men

And survived returning

To see once more and yearning

Her love's maternal calling.

As her daughters and sons one by one

Married and blessed her

With young children to love

Her desire

Never waned, that burning love

That fire.

And as she aged

That fire burned

So bright

Even as she lost her friend

Beloved of near sixty years

She would not live in the past

It made that fire

Last.

As she neared her end

That fire slowly seemed to dim

When the news hit hard

Death had her oldest and youngest children taken

Before her eyes, heartbroken

I visited her one last time months before her demise

Sad and forsaken

That fire had left her eyes.