Katherine

We were young at the time,
but I still remember
the sun hanging low in the sky
in the depths of late September.
The playground glazed a penny-bronze
by the slowly sinking sun.
I watched you laugh and run and yell -
I watched you having fun.
Legs pumping mechanically,
back and forth you swung
'til the tips of your feet happened to brush
against the golden sun.
Eager to make friends,
I approached you with a smile,
with a hesitation ever so slight...
"Wanna play for a while?"
Your face lit up like a firework,
nodding feverishly.
You stuck out one sticky hand and announced,
"My name is Katherine McFee."
I told you mine in return
and we smiled, equally shy.
I grabbed the vacant swing beside you
and together, we began to fly.
The day passed without effort
'til the cloak of night fell.
Your mother called you away
and mine did as well.
Leaving our swings behind,
and running back to them,
before exchanging final goodbyes,
we vowed to meet again.
A few months later
just before winter came,
I was swinging by myself
when I saw her once again.
She was leaning by the creek
deep into the woods,
leaning much closer than a little girl should.
"Katherine!" I called out
and my heart felt sore.
Katherine turned around and
suddenly was not there anymore.
"Katherine!" I screamed
and the word knife stabbed the sky.
The word "Katherine!" was lost
in a clap of thunder's cry.
A little second grade girl
was taken by the river,
and that mighty river
I will never forgive her
for taking away my Katherine,
the one I barely knew.
Innocent little Katherine,
yet maybe it wasn't true.
That damned river
swept my Katherine away.
I visit her grave often,
blaming myself to this day.