Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Elegy For My Late Sister

At a tender age, unknowable wisdom
Seven past the decade, treading on feeble step
Joyful beyond poverty, sick beyond healing
Given death for mercy, may she rest

Born before me, dead before me
Daughter of a mother, mother to many
Trusting love, she was speechless
Trusting us, she was family

Her end given as late news
In grief I shed a salty sea
As a boy, she taught me death
and its infinite separation

She was old in my youth
And left before she saw me grow
I pray God forgive her in her innocence
And that when I leave she sees me grown

© 2009 Emilio Gandara

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