Leave a Light On
Sarah Salemy ‘21
In Our Hearts
By Rachel Voellings ‘22
I remember when the clock struck twelve;
he told me that it still does after years
of nothing to power it.
He said it was her;
the one he loved but lost.
She was in the clock!
The man didn’t believe him,
but I did.
She’s still with him.
She still loves him.
She still loves us.
She never really left.
After all,
she still signs the Christmas cards,
prays in church,
catches the balloons I release into the sky,
and sings the time every hour
through the grand, old clock.
But I remember when the clock struck twelve
two years later…
He doesn’t talk about her anymore,
but I know he longs to be with her;
to travel the skies they saved up for,
to watch the family grow,
to watch the tomatoes in the yard ripen,
to sing the hour together through the clock.
He doesn’t remember me anymore,
but I know he longs to;
to remember my dance recitals,
to remember our trips to Friendly’s,
to remember the riddles,
to remember our embraces.
It hurts to look at the clock now,
realizing that I won’t see him soon.
But he’ll still love us.
He’ll still be with us.
He’ll be with her too––
maybe not in the clock, but in our hearts.