Dear Cousin

Your sudden demise 

Has overwhelmed my heart with sadness

Tonight again I could not fall asleep

Thoughts of you tumble in my mind  

Your image remains vivid in my memory

Those days when we grew up together 

You were only two years older

But I thought you were brilliant

Knowing so many things

I remember our conversations

And how you liked to tease me   

Which stirred up mixed emotions 

You frequently amazed me    

With your magic

And left me baffled  

But in my admiration

I believed them

It took years before I realized   

They were just your tricks

To make fun of me  

One summer night

You pointed to the sky

Telling me you saw angels

Waving at us from a star 

And asked me to wave back

I looked but could not see them 

But now again at night 

Looking up at the sky

I wish you were one of those angels 

Waving to me from a star

By Shih-Fang Wang

From: United States