How We Didn't Tell Her

http://poems.com/poem.php?date=14234

I read this poem and it really made me think about how sometimes one's happy endings aren't another person's happy ending. It kind of reminded me of when my cousin Tariq passed away, how the entire family was so careful how to tell me the news. It makes someone really think before they act.

There is obviously no way to tell a bad news in a good way but I think my family prepared me by telling me that he was in critical condition and in the hospital. From there I was already mentally prepared for the worst but I still hoped that they all made a mistake and it was someone that looked like Tariq--similar to the poem.

In Sandra Gilbert's poem everyone knew that this young "flesh" was killed in an accident but were afraid to tell the mother. Thankfully they didn't have to because it was a mistake but the young boy that was killed in the accident was someone else's brother, son, and friend. Makes you think twice, doesn't it?

Shéma