Sister

  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.