Two Women
I knew a cheerful woman once
Whose brother two years older she
Adored. Such fun she was to be
Around, most freely giving hugs
And smiles and therapeutic love,
A bright and scintillating friend.
Eighteen she was when cancer of
The bone took him away from her,
One horrible September day.
She never was herself again.
She lost her natural cheerfulness,
Gave up her dreams and moped away.
I know a cheerful woman now
Whose brother two years older she
Adored. Such fun she is to be
Around, most freely giving hugs
And smiles and therapeutic love,
A bright and scintillating friend.
Eighteen she was when cancer of
The bone took him away from her,
One horrible November day.
Somehow she gained herself again,
Somehow retains her cheerfulness,
Keeps up her dreams and grabs the day.
Eric v.d. Luft, Ph.D., was Curator of Historical Collections at SUNY Upstate Medical University from 1987 to 2006 and has taught at Villanova University, Syracuse University, Upstate, and the College of Saint Rose. He is the author, editor, or translator of over 690 publications in philosophy, religion, librarianship, history, history of medicine, politics, humor, popular culture, and nineteenth-century studies.