An Empty Chair

This kitchen has an empty chair

Nowadays, it has become my lair.

For once upon a time sat here she,

A girl who meant the world to me.

You can see the entire neighbourhood from here

And feel a distance between the houses near.

The sink is full of unwashed dishes and pests,

I am here busy studying for university tests.

My little sister lost to leukemia last year

When she was fourteen, a docile teenager.

I haven’t cried since her funeral

But I often lay on the ground and curl.

She loved to read Charles Dickens’ books

Those hardcover ones residing in the nooks.

I look at them and hope if there’s a heaven

She’d definitely be up there, on cloud eleven.