Precious Aunt

Beloved Kit.

Oh sweet darling woman.

And I at your wedding so very long ago

Where the granddad sang

And my brother was stowed in a drawer

And you wore the softest of blues

Which tugged out your eyes

That sparkled and shone

For him. And all of us.

And you stood firm

And proud and strong

As you ran a business

And bore six children.

And stood stalwart

Like an icon for the

Rest of us girls

In our endless family.

And after all that you played

Bridge and golf

Up to your nineties

And shone some more

Like a beacon for the old.

With your nails always painted

And hair just so

And your clothes so glamourous.

And then, the bottom fell out.

Your youngest died his neverending

Death from cancer. And overnight

Your mind snapped shut.

And I saw the shell last week

Of what you had become.

Your smile intact, his name deleted.

From your thoughts, your life.

Only the names of those others

Long dead and gone, are now alive.

Your mother, my mother

Your husband, your father.

I miss you.