Stick Figure

My sister died and was idolized
For half a century. And now
It is her ghost that bleeds me white
I have pursued her for decades
A stick like figure she fades
Into the crowds on the street
The day darkens, horns blare
And the storm intensifies
She is a flickering, ephemeral being
As temporary as chalk on a pavement
Always vulnerable to the next rainfall

Around and around we go
Along the slender, twisting road
A shimmering black ribbon
Stretching out before us
Undulating and unforgiving
This route is familiar to me
She is a bone-dry tree
She has shed everything
In a self inflicted Blitzkrieg
We scramble over the rubble
Over the remnants of her life

As autumn is ushered in
She hides from me
As she hides from everyone
I cannot get near her
She keeps her contents secret
A china doll, softening,
Shrinking; melting into my life.