INDEPENDENT

0.6 … The Party

I told her,
we can’t afford it,
it’s fine,
I don’t need one,
but it’s always been true
that I get all my
stubbornness from her.

I knew my graduation party
was more for her sake
than it was for mine.
But knowing what
I know now, I could
not be more grateful
she won that battle that time.

She couldn’t have known,
but with it, she gave us both
one last day in the sun.

Surrounded by family,
my dearest friends,
and the future,
we celebrated that
I made it and that
so much more was to come.

My Aunt snapped a photo of us,
one I begged her to delete.
Awful skin, crooked teeth,
a body taking up
too much of the frame.
But we wore genuine smiles,
and I thank God that memory remains.

Six days later, she left me for the stars.
Its the last photo I have with her,
the last moment that was ours.

For more from this collection, visit

elluminations, vol. 0
INDEPENDENT

Click here to learn more about elluminations. This poem is also available on Medium.

Cover photo by Samantha Gades  |   (elluminations © 2018 Elayna Mae Darcy)