My Auntie 

Someone whose smile resembles the bright sun.

Eyes like marble cake,

Light, airy, and filled with different mixes of brown. 

Your voice is as soft as a baby's skin.

Teeth chipped away like old paint.

Bringing us sweet, soft donuts,

That melted in our mouths every morning.

Perfume, the smell of roses and nostalgia.

My Auntie 

Illness hit you like a tidal wave,

Drowning you in regret and mourning. 

You’re a dove with broken wings,

Kept from flying,

Freedom taken away in an instance.

This stroke like a kite,

That has swirled your life back from where it once came.

Reading to you like a newborn child.

Your mind like a damaged library,

Intelligence smeared to mere muck,

Pages missing to your story,

Filled with so much knowledge that has gone to waste.

My Auntie

Maybe this stoke is a forest fire,

That destroyed the luscious trees and leaves,

Burning everything to a crisp,

But meanwhile leaving room for new growth.

Can we turn this burden into a blessing,

And be like a child and learn to live again?

During your times of weakness,

Where you struggled to learn,

You taught me a lesson to be appreciative,

And not to take things for granted. 

Even when you became the student and I the teacher,

My knowledge, as well as my compassion for others,

Grew to be more open and abundant. 

I’m more thankful for your life experiences that you have shared, than the donuts you would bring to us every morning 

And that’s why you’ll always be 

My Auntie