"Before Christmas, I'll be back",
John said, and he departed.
He left his wife and his child
crying, alone at an empty home.
With other knights of the king
—his comrades— he marched,
"To the victory!", they shouted
and their horses ran.
Far, far away, they marched
looking for their enemy to die.
Only sad people were left
at the city, and every
wife, some with their children,
was alone at an empty home.
Weeks passed, and so did months—
the summer went away.
No letter came from the fierce knights,
no trace or sign of life.
The people at the city
no more did cry or weep—
they just tried to carry on
without their fierce knights near.
Then winter came, autumn was gone,
and each citizen was still
alone at an empty home.
Sad candles were lit on tables
on the 25th December
for the fierce knights were abroad.
No, they weren't back—some of them
never would.
Yet more months passed:
harvest, sow, harvest, sow.
Three years came and went,
three candles of sorrow in each house:
every Christmas, they were
alone at an empty home.
The fourth year, plague came—
but when it was gone
the knights were still abroad.
The fifth year, famine came—
more women died while waiting
than knights perished while fighting.
Some came back, deserters,
but no shame fell upon them.
In the city, people celebrated
that a few wives had
their husbands back.
But most didn't have them:
they were still
alone at an empty home.
With the sixth year almost passed,
a herald came:
"Our glorious knights have won,
through fierce battling, this long war.
They are coming back"
The herald spoke on the 1st December.
The 10th, from nearby cities,
notice arrived.
The 20th, when the sun was setting,
dust unsettled they saw.
The 24th, leading the march,
Sir John, fierce and glorious knight,
passed the doors.
With the fist raised,
he jumped down from his horse.
He ran towards his home,
and there he knocked the door.
His wife, with the experience
that the years of vainly expecting
had given her,
opened as if it were
a normal day.
But what she saw
was a knight —her knight—
right before Christmas.