Oh, where had my sweet love gone that morning when later that day he’d met his death? It was early January, cold and dreary when he left unusually early without a word. For days I wondered and I wondered where my lover had gone! A few days later his father came to me bringing me as a token - the leather jacket my lover had been wearing that horrid afternoon when senselessly he had been killed by a drunken reckless driver as my lover used a crosswalk and got run down. The night before his demise, my love and I had kissed underneath his umbrella in January’s rain. I still recall him pressed against me wearing that same leather jacket which now I’m wearing as I walk home. I press that leather jacket tighter to my chest as I recall how the whole world got washed away that minute in the downpour that his lips met mine. We’d run then to his apartment, flinging eagerly our rain-soaked clothing to the floor. Underneath the sheets, still cold and wet, we passionately embraced. How quickly I then warmed up in my sweet lover’s arms. His smile alone could always warm my soul. He was my sun. He was my all! The next morning when I awoke, my love had already left. Never did I get my usual call from him that afternoon. Two days later I learned the reason why when his father brought my lover’s jacket and told me how his son had died. So here I am now two weeks later. Rain has begun to pour on this dreary day. I let my fingers wander in the jacket pockets. Something lies hidden beneath the lining of one pocket; my fingers touch upon a crumpled piece of paper! What can it be? The small paper is a receipt from a jewelry store. My love had apparently left early that fateful day to purchase my surprise -a diamond engagement ring! What happened to that ring? I will never know. But that crumpled receipt reveals my lover’s secret, and my tears fall bitter-sweetly with the rain. 1/12/2023 for Hilo Poet's Metrical Tale Poetry Contest