I remember the day you cried
It was the only time I saw
You shed a tear. You spoke about
Life without your Dad, how raw
You felt and how sad.
"I was fifteen" you said "when
Daddy died and Aunt Lillian
(your sister) was only eleven."
So you had to be the man
And take care of Mom.
Grandmother was forty-seven.
You helped her in the candy store.
She worked at night as a seamstress.
I do not remember much more
Of what you told me.
Except I remember you cried,
Looked at me. What was on your mind?
Did you know your time was so short?
Did you know the future I would find
Like you, an orphan?
When people die, the others cry
We sit apart and mourn.
It's not a new idea at all
That one should cry when we are born
To be left alone.
