Lessons on loss: I didn't write

I didn't write nor send the letter
To you in the nursing home and now you are gone, though no longer suffering from COVID-19.

I can't forgive myself
For the fact that I didn't say goodbye, or even hello

It was your jovial face that greeted me
Each morning from the recliner
When i would visit my grandparents
And you, my grandfather's sister's husband
Would say hello, and then we'd sit in silence, watching sports. 

This time, as I write you the only
Letter I can, a poem
As tears cascade down my face
Knowing that life is short but missing you,
Longing for more than a memory
A distant star
You, dear star, gone.

— Anonymous