Page 81 of Waiting for Redemption

“In visions of the dark night

I have dreamed of joy departed?—

But a waking dream of life and light

Hath left me broken-hearted.

Ah! What is not a dream by day

To him whose eyes are cast

On things around him with a ray

Turned back upon the past?

That holy dream–that holy dream,

While all the world were chiding,

Hath cheered me as a lovely beam

A lonely spirit guiding.

What through that light, thro’ storm and night,

So tremble from afar?—

What could there be more purely bright

In Truth’s day-star?”

“So you read, nay,memorize, poetry?” I can feel her smiling and it brings a smile to my face as well.

“I do. Mostly Poe but a couple of others as well. I picked up a book in the airport on my first deployment and started reading it when I was overseas. It ended up being a nice distraction ya know?”

She turns to rest her chin on my chest as her honey-brown eyes look at me curiously.

“So what does it mean?” I begin brushing her long black waves that rest along her back as I do my best to explain it.

“Well, the way I see it is, he starts by writing about a dream he had where happiness left him, but it doesn’t scare him because he’s already living in a state of depression and darkness. What impacts him most is when he has dreams about joy and happiness because he can’t relate to them. He doesn’t interact that way with the world because he’s living in the past, where that darkness keeps a hold of him. But then, he recalls a dream he once had that he considered to be holy. One that helped him escape the world of misery he had lived in for so long. But that’s the beautiful thing about poetry, different people will interpret it in different ways.”

“What you said earlier? About telling you all the terrible things and loving me anyway, was that a quote you’d memorized as well?” She lets her eyes lock with mine, and I intertwine my fingers in her hair, caressing her cheek with my thumb as I do.

“It was. But I still meant every word.”

“You’re full of surprises aren’t you, husband?”

Fuck, she said it again.

“If you keep calling me your husband in that sweet-as-sin voice of yours, I’m going to have a hard time letting you sleep tonight,” I warn her, but she only seems more encouraged as she drops her hand to brush against my hardening cock.

“But I’m not tired.” Her mouth is saying one thing but her eyes are telling me another.

“Give me about five minutes of playing with your hair and I bet I’ll have you snoring.” Her eyes fall closed as I begin massaging her scalp and she finally lays back down on my chest.

“Fine. Five minutes, but if I’m still awake after that. We do what I want,” she says through a yawn, and suddenly I’m curious what it is that she wants.

“As you wish.” Not even a minute later, I feel her body go limp. But of course, my beautiful bride doesn’t snore, she sleeps as beautifully as she does everything else. Feeling her steady breaths against me and her body perfectly entangled with mine, my own sleep follows not long after.

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