Dallying In Durango Poem by Cowboy Ron Williams

It wasn't supposed to be like this

I wasn't supposed to be all alone
at eighty-one years old

she was supposed to still be here
with me

how I long to hold her close again
to share the experiences
of the day

to dream together of the future

she would be amazed
at our grandchildren
and the wonderful things
that they have accomplished

she would marvel at how the tiny tree
that we planted in the backyard
now gives bushels and bushels
of apples each year
red and shiny and delectable

does God have a reason to keep me here
without her beside me?

I dream of the day when I see her again
when our bodies are restored
in their resurrected states
and I'll take her hand

we'll run up the mountainside
to that crystal-clear lake
we'll swim in those refreshing waters
watch the deer, the moose,
the snowshoe hares and the porcupines,
the grouse, the chickadees, the woodpeckers,
and all of God's other creatures that live there

I can do all those things now
but without her, it's not the same

looking forward to that time
it won't be long now
I hope