Kate

 

The person who was not there

Was in every room.

She had painted the paintings;

She had chosen the house;

She had made the friends who now gathered,

And the family that gathered was hers.

 

The one thing she could not do was show up,

Because they don’t invite you to this party -

Your last party, the one with the awkward laughter,

The stories about you,

The silences about you too.

 

Rest easy, Kate.

I wish you could have seen it.

How much you were loved and are loved;

How full your empty house is today.