All the childhood years went by
without my child.
I cannot say that those years were stolen.
Death does not steal children like sex traffickers steal children.
This is what it took
to learn what my parents went through
when my brother, at thirteen, died from cancer.
Eventually, I forgave them for what came next.
And a hole in the heart filled with understanding. Forgiveness.
A tuition fee I never have to pay again.
copyright © 2019 Kenneth P. Gurney
Umflop 