Don’t believe
inattention can’t wolf a mind,
expectation—lamb another. They grieve—
those left behind—
that a short sentence appears to love
more the one who put a period where a comma was.
They grieve
Lenami Godinez-Avila—friend, daughter, lover.
Fate or happenstance, it’s how that leaves
a bad taste in the mouth long after,
sinking the heart too late to address
the assumption the one in charge knows best.
Another poem which first appeared in Volume 8 of The American Journal of Poetry, with thanks to editor Robert Nazarene. This is my short take of a horrifying incident: news article . My next post will feature a longer (and prize-winning) aspect of the same event.
Lynne Burnett 
Haunting, powerful and heartbreaking…
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Thank you for this!
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A short sentence indeed…a powerful poem.
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Thank you, Janice!
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I’ve always enjoyed the longer version, but, knowing more of the story from that version, the first stanza here packs a real punch.
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Oh, thanks so much for that, Ken! Makes me think I could possibly include both poems in a future manuscript.
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