I still see her, but vaguely.
The big-boned woman, long braids,
left breast missing.
I press my ears closer to the
thickening fog, and try to remember
the sound of her voice when she'd speak.
Sunflowers she planted are still here,
as is the husker's truck that brought
her liniment and coconut candy.
But I sense a second rain, that I'm losing
her once more, as I am now the age she was,
the day of her first good-bye.
-- Shirley Snodey
Shirley Snodey is a writer of poetry, fiction and song lyrics. A former student at CCAC, she is currently a homemaker and lives in East Liberty. Many writers featured in Chapter & Verse are guests of Prosody, produced by Jan Beatty and Ellen Wadey. Prosody airs every Tuesday at 7 p.m. on independent radio, WYEP 91.3 FM.