for Margaret

Margaret 1985

“She passed away after a lengthy illness.”

It was terminal from the first symptoms

but denial was the only tool she had then.

Later, an array of instruments

and diagnoses

glittered her days.

Between times was a somnambulent

ether stage

lasting years.

Could it have been prevented?

Informed, could she have been

pronounced cured

or at least, “In remission?”

Possibly. I myself don't think so.

Some come into the world

too vulnerable, unformed,

too heeding, too willing to believe.

For them this Death by Romance strikes mortally.

There is no, “Taking strength.”

They waste away, often

with delicate charm,

minute by minute

like water in a terracotta pot

until we read with sadness

(what could we have done?)

that they are gone.