I was purple.
You were Harvard Law School graduate
(summa cum laude)
I was state university dropout
Yet you treated me with such
respect.
You trusted me with your future.
That future is now.
(Was now.)
Last week we were joking about
life
retirement
gourmet shrimp
dating again
happiness
absence of purple
dying in the saddle
dancing in Ireland for the pure joy of it
watching talent bloom in the din of distant drummers
(my kids were your kids, all)
righting all the wrongs, ending the war,
fixing poverty, Medicare, and the deficit
(in people’s hearts)
victories, over breast cancer, grief, loss, love
Being women in a world that still feels alien sometimes
Making a difference.
You weren’t supposed to die in the saddle this soon.
You were supposed to enjoy the future
I helped you make.
I haven’t made my difference yet.
(You did)
Your heart was too big to fail. Who arrested it anyway?
It must be a mistake.
Let’s find a solution.
A resolution
(You taught me those)
The mirror shouts back at me
empty
This is the final return.
(No amendments)
For Jeanine, my friend, mentor, teacher and client.
September 27, 1939 – February 1, 2006
