I never met you.
I never got the chance.
You were here
and then gone
long before I came.
But I know your face
because it’s the same –
the same as mine,
as my grandfather,
my grandmother,
the people I love who
knew you and loved you
and mourned you every day.
They held you forever
near and dear in their hearts
where no one
no war
could take you away.
I carry you, too,
safe in that sacred place.