Departure

We embraced, “I'll see you soon,” she said, I watched the vehicle leave, I felt hollow and empty, It was my first time seeing her, I have heard so much about her, I had longed to see her since I was a child, I didn’t know that was the last farewell, She didn’t come back, We didn’t see anymore, She sailed away. She was taken ill, She had had the early signs, I was told about it, But didn’t notice it when we met, She looked hale and sound, We talked at length, She went down memory lane. The ailment had a deep inroad into her, It stole her present, It brought her past before her, When we were happy she had turned the corner, She breathed her last, With a smile on her face, she gave up, My auntie broke the news to me, She was the last of her clan. July 1, 2022.