At My Aunt's Unveiling

AT MY AUNT’S UNVEILING At my aunt’s unveiling There were five of us Only five One was a woman A friend of hers Not the closest one But someone who knew her And wanted to be a friend. Thousands of people had known my aunt Hundreds had worked with or for her She was born into a large family But all of them were gone Or out of it. My sister and I were the relatives My aunt had been very generous to us And difficult for my sister Who cared for her. I had only been a taker all the years. My aunt worked so hard for so many years And she was ‘somebody’ in her world There were five of us there And the ceremony short No minyan. There was no sign of my aunt’s smile Or her nervous energy or her superabundant love ‘Moll ‘as my mother called her was not there. I see her so clearly in my mind now ‘What does it all mean? ’ my father would ask my mother after reading of the death of another person they knew ‘What does it all mean’ When my sister and I go The memory of my aunt Will be gone forever.