A Love Poem to My Daughter

An Incomplete Heart I am here; She is not Yet, I must stay and figure out how to put her away — When she’s always been right here at the […]

By: Angela Kennecke

Feb 14, 2019

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An Incomplete Heart

I am here; She is not
Yet, I must stay and figure out how to put her 
away --
When she's always been right here at the
forefront of my mind
Worry. Worry. Fear.
Worst fear materialized
Somehow I breathe
In and out; in and out
I breathe without her
I was there for her first breath, not her last
My work unfinished -- services no longer
required
My heart in pieces on the floor
One piece missing forevermore
Learning to live with an incomplete heart.
- Angela Kennecke

I wrote this poem three months after Emily died. This Valentine’s Day I live with an incomplete heart.

Faith, Hope & Courage,

Angela

Angela’s Blog, Grief

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Angela Kennecke

Angela Kennecke is a journalist who lost her 21-year-old daughter Emily to fentanyl poisoning on May 16, 2018. Angela is on a mission to put an end to this epidemic by stopping the stigma and promoting the treatment of substance use disorder as the disease it is.