My sister moved to Texas today

My sister moved half-way across the country

today,

I found out.

The last time we saw each other,

we got embroiled in some

argument, but I didn't think

that was the last I would see of her in a while.

I didn't even get to say goodbye

to her or her little dog,

a yorkshire terrier who is only

1-year old.

The last time I visited Texas was

when I was 13 years old,

still clad in glasses

and plaid shirts and loose-fitting jeans

that hid my body.

I vowed that I would never visit this state

that seemed so foreign to me,

a nation within a nation

with its long, complex history

of its own.

Life has a funny, wild way of working out though.

I guess this means I have to visit this Southern state -

a place where I questioned whether

I would be welcomed there

if I ever went back again.

My apprehensions and prejudices

are outbalanced by the fact that

ma petite soeur has made her

abode there.

Go figure.

My sister moved halfway across the country

today,

And I weep - stunned by her absence

and left to face this vacuous space

in which she occupied the last 20-some years -

my stronger, better half

at times.

Who will fill this space now?

Who is my anchor in this city of Chicago?

It is so alien and cold -

a big mass of concrete and a glaring skyline

and news of shootings that threaten

to shake my world at times.

Absence. Longing. Parallel lives.

Ambiguity. Unrequited goodbyes...

A sisterhood that began more than

30 years ago -

Now, it's a new chapter in a new world.