for Saroja
She had and doesn’t have a sister:
the photo reveals a small dark face
and all her childhood, how she missed her
In bed at night, she’d always whisper
a prayer for her she yearned to embrace
She had and doesn’t have a sister
No matter how they tried to twist her
she wouldn’t give up that wild goose chase
for all her childhood, how she missed her
Her adoptive parents couldn’t resist her
demands to go to that distant place
where she had and doesn’t have a sister
Year after year, she’d always insist her
parents search for that lost child of grace
and all her childhood, how she missed her
If they’d met, she would have kissed her
but mother and child were gone without trace:
she had and doesn’t have a sister;
and all her childhood, how she missed her.
Poem
Sister
Ron Pretty