The Woman Who Waited

A Poem

Photo by Jingxi Lau on Unsplash

you never knew her,
I don’t think,
or maybe you just forgot her —
much like all the rest

dear Annie, that sweet girl,
kept close to her mother’s land
and never said a mean word
against anyone at all

she stocked shelves at Andy’s,
the only grocer in town,
while her mama died of cancer
in a house in shambles

the neighbors didn’t care,
and no one said a thing
when the ambulance came
and left, no better than a hearse

dear Annie, she was one of a kind,
and you couldn’t be rude —
not when she’d smile like a light
with no room for any nonsense

she waited on tables at Sean’s,
toiling away for hours and hours
on tips that always dried up
because regulars waved her off

the neighbors whispered ‘bout her
every day and night, morn till midnight,
even as she slumped home at 2 AM
to a fallen castle with…