Still No Letter

There's still no letter.......
In my troubled mind
I seek a reason, and quickly reasons find -
Indeed they tumble in, to be discarded
Each as it comes.... It could be that
You're very busy; missed the evening post;
Or else it's held up in the mail. A host
Of explanations....... Yet that gnawing fear
O'errides them - still keeps dunning at me that
You just don't want to write. And vainly I
Attempt to thrust aside the thought, deny
It with your last note and the one before.
But no. I must resign myself to wait
Until tomorrow, or the next day and
A day. Surely then I see your hand-
Writing and envelope. And life is sweet, until
A week or so, when....
Still no letter.....




[First published in “Poems of the Second World War, J.M.Dent/Salamander Oasis Trust]