Can it have been a year?
Is it possible?
It seems like only yesterday
She was here; smiling, laughing.
Has it been a year?
I could easier believe it has been a day.

Can it have been a year?
The wounds are still too fresh,
too intense, for that amount of time
to have passed.
Has it been a year?
I could easier believe it has been a moment.

Can it have been a year?
Surely one year could not contain the
lifetimes that have passed.
My life, touched only by passing sadness,
unknown to grief until that moment,
is not the same.
Could it be within this one year that I
have seen the meaning of "grief-stricken,"
have seen the pain of those I love,
have felt this much sorrow?

Has just one year seen so much?
Has it been a year?
I think I could easier believe
it has been a century.

Anna Burnett
April 10, 2000