She Ran Away

She Ran Away !

The pain has gone

but the memory will never die.

We could not sleep,

sit still,

talking to friends brought tears ,

and every phone call raised hopes

only to end in despair.

After 48 long hours

we began to consider

the unthinkable:

then finally,

after 3 impossibly protracted days,

our daughter was found,

safe.

And after  the relief

came the anger .

How could she?

Why?

The reunion was the most bitter sweet of hugs,

elation, relief, fury, confused and blended

an emotional  cocktail

Which quenched the thirst but not the pain

Only time healed the pain,

but today, as I watch her mother with joy

our two cherished grandchildren,

even the memory is dimmed.