Poetry: She Died of by John Yamrus

she died of

 

appendicitis 

when he was nine, 

 

and he 

got shuttled 

between family 

and friends and back 

to family again for years.  

 

nobody dies 

of appendicitis, anymore, 

or sends a kid away the way they did, 

 

so it was 

no surprise to anyone 

 

when he got the gun...

 

got the cash...

 

and 

made it 

straight for the coast.  

 

that 

was the last 

anyone ever heard of the kid.  

 

his name 

was Jerry or 

Tommy or Tom 

and he never did come back.

 

John Yamrus has been a working writer for over 50 years, publishing 35 books, including 29 poetry collections, 2 novels, and 3 volumes of non-fiction. His work has appeared in nearly 3,000 magazines and anthologies worldwide. Recently, The Street and Present Tense were released by Anxiety Press.