HOW CAN YOU LOSE A GRANDDAUGHTER?
sitting in a virtually empty movie theatre,
my daughter’s being called out to the parking lot
to talk to the police.
How can you lose a granddaughter?
found dead in the morning,
lying in the middle of the street,
apparently of an overdose—fentanyl.
How can you lose a granddaughter?
lost wandering in a land of wonder,
an eleven- and a twelve-year-old
following her around helplessly.
How can you lose a granddaughter.
and she isn’t just a kid, but thirty,
going on a strange journey into outer space,
all alone. When will I see her?
How can you lose a granddaughter?
more lost than I am now as I write
this memorial to how much I’ll miss her.
How can you lose a granddaughter?
—from Poets Respond
October 12, 2022
__________
Jack e Lorts: “On October 3rd, my granddaughter Alyssa was found dead in the street near the library. She may have been struck by a car, too, but she died of an overdose of fentanyl. My lovely, lively, loving granddaughter was 30, and had a daughter 11 and a baseball-playing son who had turned 12 that day.” (web)
