Requiem For Ulli Poem by Liilia Talts Morrison

A hazy image in my mind
Is all I have today:
A summer photo in the sun
You squinted, looked our way;
and loved us all, your family
With children, parents, too.
Until the end you circled us
Though pain and sorrow grew.

There was a pin, a cross so red
With shiny metal bound
It was your nurse's pin, dear aunt
Now nowhere to be found.

You didn't want to leave, not then
But battles took their toll,
Yet ministered your healing touch
Till front lines crushed your soul.

You came to visit one last time
We children wrestled, clung
'Please, let them play, ' you told our mom
'please let them, they're so young.'
We didn't know, they would not say
You had a wound so deep.
It must have hurt when children hugged
Your back. No time to weep.

That afternoon we tousled 'bout
All laughing silver bells.
Much later mom revealed to us
It was your last farewell.

I'm old now, yet your image burns
Etched deep in memory's vein
Dear Ulli, sister to my mom
My idol you remain.
It doesn't matter if that pin
Got lost in sands of time
Or photos damaged in a storm
Were torn or ruined with grime.

What war or hardship can compare
To one young woman's call
While binding soldiers' bloody wounds
Harsh bullets made her fall.
Your smiling face, your trusting eyes
Are clearer, finer still
As years roll on. Your healing love
Forget I never will.