How do you grieve
Someone you never knew
Except as a role
Assigned at birth

A role played half-heartedly
In name only
Or not at all

“Grandmother” and “Granddaughter”
“Mother” and “Daughter”

Never really connected to the person
Within the role

Treated as an obligation
Or a convenience

The people behind the roles were strangers
Their wants, needs and desires
                                                         unknown
                                                         unimportant

I grieve
The possibility
                            of that role
The lack of grief
                               for the person
            who I never knew

Who never knew me

It's a common story
The ideal version of a family
Where everyone knows, loves and accepts each other
Seems to be false
more often than it is true

But it is a wonderful fantasy

The death of the possibility
of fantasy
                   becoming reality
Holds its own pain

Deserves its own time
                                         and space
                         to grieve