The Final Distance

When siblings live distinct
and distant lives for decades
on end and only memory
sustains the threadbare
skein of the family compact
so that a bare wisp of
occasional thought lingers,
the elemental properties
of blood and belonging
are strained beyond recall.
When death takes one
the survivor wrestles with
a confusion of emotions
wondering whether the grief
of loss twists the dagger less
deeply within the deprived heart.