Word Search

By Jane Cocke Perdue

Searching for the word –
. . . Alone?
. . . Empty?
. . . Vacant?
. . . Bereaved?
. . . Deprived?
. . . Bereft?
None describes the feeling
Of being left by your dying.
I am like a child
Lying in a crib,
Crying to be held.
I found the word –
It is “partial.”
Part of me is no longer here.
I will never be whole again.