What You Left Behind

Your call took me by surprise

Some 20 years after our divorce,

And

Five months before the brain tumor

Ended your life

After the divorce 

The tears of regret eventually disappeared

And gave over to confused wonder, 

Why

It takes so long

To understand

what pride denies,

To know how the power in vulnerability

Can can be stronger than ego

From between the lines

The words we didn’t know

How to say back then

Emerged like a salve

Gently massaging the scars

Both of us mistakenly thought were forgotten.

~Naida Lavon