For One Who Never Was
dear sister:
I am sorry I never helped
you braid your hair
for the first day of school.
I am sorry you never borrowed (and
ruined) my favorite clothes
or lost my books.
I am sorry we never got grounded
for sneaking out together
and being retrieved by the police.
I am sorry we never lay too long in the sun
and acquired degree sunburns
and whimpered together with wet
washcloths on our torched skin.
I am sorry we never whispered jokes
during long church sermons
or fought over car keys.
I am sorry you never saw the sky
on a winter morning or a July fireworks.
I am sorry you never saw the sky.
-MWE
7 May 2001
