Ph: Memorial: Remembering Neethu Panicker - Chapter 2 Rev 3 Poem by Brian Johnston

Chapter 2

All her emails took months to reveal Chapter One
But the trust between us kept on growing,

On her part, perhaps getting that I really cared,
And for me, con game fear, was a caution.

At the start when she just ask for poetry help
It was certainly innocent starting.

I helped edit her poem on her brother's death, (1)
Which was hiding an iceberg of feelings,

Little hint, from just it, her whole family died
And that she was the only survivor.

Then she finally shared that her parents were dead
And how she had been grievously injured.

It seemed clear, early on, she was tightly controlled
The relations quite distant she lived with.

But I was not concerned just because of her age
Till she overheard plans for adoption.

They were hoping to access her parent's estate
Which was hers as the only survivor.

And her trust was so small that she actually feared
Them complicit in death of her parents.

We had talks about how little power she had
I advised her she needed a lawyer.

But she had little way to find one on her own
Even poetry time was restricted.

I felt sure she was hiding her friendship with me
Sometimes days would go by without speaking.

But with culture and distance to keep us apart
There was nobody else I could talk to,

Though a picture emerged of both power and wealth
And a family possibly murdered.

July 10,2016