Student Publishing Program ::

Rachel G.

A Million Things All My Own

for my grandmother, Dorothy Grady, who died before I was born

all it takes is one word
that can say
Everything.

a generational name that doesn’t fit, but does
give me a way to Learn about myself,
a strong Connection
to a surviving
Emptiness.
and a Tie
to people who have cut all other bonds,
a fond Reminder of a person
now gone; a woman
I never got the chance to meet.
a Life I never knew;
a Moment I was never part of.

it’s all because of
one word
that has made me who
I am
now.

she’s gone, but not if
I Remember.
barely enough stories to count on
one hand,
not even a picture to keep.
I saw one once -
now lost
in an album -
She had red hair.
like Ruby slippers.
this is all I remember,
all I have of this person
who meant so much to the people
who now mean so much to me

all I need,
all I am left with,
all that Lives on through me is
this Everlasting knowledge -
she never truly left me
and she’ll never really leave.
she’s part of me, and
my dad.
I see it when he talks about her
and Cries.
he doesn’t cry -
only
when he’s thinking about her.

it’s something that we share,
my sole Claim to her:
our name; it’s
Everything
in a single
word -

Dorothy

[TABLE OF CONTENTS, LHS CLASS OF 2009 EDITION]