Five Months

The dogs howling
woke me before dawn
death already in the air
A slow, tearful procession
had started to form
winding out of the village
in tattered robes
wailing mother at its head
repeatedly striking her face
with the ruthless blows of despair
the shortness of her daughter's life
making it somehow even more precious--
and all those dollars
I once squandered  
on candy  
made it even harder to bear