To Jo

You cannot tell
what happiness or sorrow lies in wait
behind the screen of hours yet to be.
Nobody knows. We can't anticipate
tomorrow's sun, nor its apostrophe.
There was no way for us to look ahead
and see that you so quickly were to go;
there are so many things you would have said,
so many things you'd like to have me know.
How could we guess that you'd so soon be gone,
without a chance to even say goodby,
that all the lovely things we had planned on
so confidently were so soon to die.
And you who love to help so very much
would never leave me thus. I know you long
to give to me some reassuring touch
to show the way; to teach me to be strong.
I ache to understand the why and how,
so, knowing, as I do, your thoughts so well,
the hardest part for you must be that now
you know the answers for me and
you cannot tell.



—Kathryn Kay, With Tongue in Cheek, p. 83.