In a time before love between two men was accepted,

          They unknowingly met as kids,

          Their paths crossed, they connected.

 

In the land of Steinbeck and the rugged farms of the west,

          They grew up best of friends,

          Life was innocent, they were blessed.

 

Inseparable, leaving home, they ventured off to college,

          Then drafted to the Great War,

          Slowly jaded by the world’s knowledge.

         

Shipped overseas, serving together in muddy ditches,

          Struggling to survive,

          They reminisced of childhood riches.

 

Soon winter came and the snows started to fall,

          Huddled up against each other,

          Keeping warm, one giant ball.

 

They rolled cigarettes, played cards, and spoke of home,

          Together they dreamed,

          Of distant lands they would one day roam.

 

Despite the presence of Death and all the lives he did smother,

          In this place that was pure hell,

          They found Eden in each other.

 

And when the war had been won and the peace treaty signed,

          They returned home to parades,

          The streets were all lined.

 

Changed by the war, their lives started to part,

          The scholar, back to college,

          The other, a farmer, with a heavy heart.

 

Over the years distance grew between these two best of friends,

          They say time heals all wounds,       

          But the heart never fully mends.

 

Invariably the scholar was molded by societal norms,

          He studied books and took a bride,

          Though in his soul did rage storms.

         

And on the farm, the nature boy retained his innocence,

          Daily working the land,

          Immune to inner dissonance.

         

Invisibly, an eternal force wove together their souls,

          But the threads were pulled taut,

          Each guided by different goals.

 

A man of the world, the scholar was blinded by fear,

          But for the other in nature,

          Attuned to his soul, it was clear.

 

Of course, people speculated, “Why isn’t he married?

          Who is this friend he speaks of?

          It’s time that dream be buried.”

 

Though home from the war when the world found great peace,

          The scholar found misery,

          The haunting hurt never ceased.

 

Naïve to the norms, the nature boy was confused,

          His heart ached in a way,

          He couldn’t explain, it was bruised.

 

In his diary he wrote of the life he had once known,

          What he knew in his soul,

          Though he stood all alone.

 

From kids to students to soldiers at war,

          Always they were together,

          In that time from before.

 

And on pages he taped pictures, just the two of them,

          Before things had changed,

          Two flowers, one stem.

 

So many memories, them laughing uncontrollably,

          Arms around each other,

          Safe, secure, all happily.

 

His family, perplexed, wondered about his dear friend,

          Explaining what cannot be:

          “Laws of nature you cannot bend.”

 

He tried to express, but always insufficiently,

          Words failed to describe

          What his heart knew inherently.

 

Looking at photos, his smile could not be contained,

          True happiness radiated,

          Even if his spirit was pained.

         

Though family and friends questioned “How could he not see?”

          “All I know is what I feel,

          And with him, I am free.”

 

How could something so pure not be good, or right?

          He saw not lovers but love,

          And his soul shone bright.

 

Strip away the constructs of the world as we fear it,

          When the physical fades,

          All that is left is the spirit.

 

In our earthly form, so blind to that which transcends,

          We see gender and body,

          But ignore the love that attends.

 

Before labels divided and instilled so much hate,

          Before judgment and fear

          Broke down heaven’s gate,

         

There existed a love between two souls from beyond,

          And when they took their human form,

          Both male genders they donned.

 

In the descent down to earth in its physical matter,

          Some things are lost,

          And some dreams do shatter.

 

But remove the tinted lens of this low earthly realm,

          And you’ll see souls of pure light,

         So bright, they overwhelm.

 

There is no body, no gender, and no sexuality,

          There is only beauty and love,

          In a different reality.

 

Years passed on the farm and the nature boy grew older,

          Despite what others said,

          His truth he did shoulder.

 

Then one day, he heard something, a faint knock at the door,

          And in an instant he returned,

          To a time from before.

 

There framed by the light of the distant setting sun,

          Stood his friend whom he loved,

          And his heart came undone.

 

The scholar and the nature boy, reunited at last,

          Their smiles so wide,

          It was like no time had passed.

 

He stepped in, they embraced, never wanting to break,

          Their energy palpable,

          Their souls did awake.

 

And so Eden was restored to the time before the fall,

          When two souls found each other,

          And love was all they could recall.

Dane Dowell

June 6, 2024

Written in the early morning after waking from a dream described herein.