The last time I saw my sister Phyllis
many pictures some one did take.
It was her birthday we celebrated
and we had ice cream and cake.
The piano she wanted me to play
though most songs I already forgot.
We noisily sang her happy birthday
but the harmony was not so hot.
We lived so many miles apart
visits were few and far between.
But we often recalled the days
when I was a young teasing teen.
Just last week I sent her a picture
of when she was just a teen.
If she saw this last photograph
it may have been her last ever seen.
Also sent a picture of my grandson
who was born on her birthday.
She never got to lay eyes on him
because she lived so far away.
The calendar read the date
when God said now is her time.
It makes us take a moment to reflect
that we all must die sometime.
Today another chapter of life closes.
Yesterday she did not have a clue.
Now her entire life will be scrutinized
and her every deed will be under review.
I hope and pray the last pictures
I sent to her she got to see.
We dare not make plans for the future.
For tomorrow only God knows what is to be.
