The Night He Left Me

I was so proud of him.
He was my hero,
my savior,
my lover,
my best friend.
He was a brand-new policeman
with a gun
and a future.
He was a brand-new adult
with a one-bedroom apartment
and a fiancée to share it.
We were planning a wedding;
we were planning a trip to Europe;
we were planning a date for tomorrow night.
Tomorrow night never came;
neither did the trip to Europe
or the wedding.
Plans changed.
It took one short phone call,
one swift ambulance ride,
one well-placed shot.
Lives changed.
His mother came to hold his hand;
she held mine too
because he wasn’t there to do it any more,
the brand-new policeman
with a wound
and a memorial,
the brand-new adult
with a coffin
and a fiancée
who wanted to share it.
Time has passed,
plans have changed,
life has changed,
but it has also moved on.
I was so proud of him.
He was my hero,
my savior,
my lover,
my best friend.
That’s all I remember
of the night he left me.