You

fell off the path
and left no footprint

unlike the fairy tales
you read me

there were no bread crumbs
dropped at the forests edge

nothing to lead my way
I did not know how to be a good

kid
teenager
mother
wife
neighbor

but in the few short years
we had together

while you were young
and I
your daughter
was even younger

you showed me what being a good person is

you embraced that in every deed
of your short sparkling life

until the day came
and you were no more

and I stood on our path alone

and one day I realized
that the way you had lived

were the bread crumbs
for me to follow

to find my way