Just
    between
             us,
it was easy, once,
to say we'd been sisters and mean every word . . .
We drew hearts on our hands and
vowed
never
         to wash them
         off . . .
                I
                I
                  look
                        now
                and see a woman's hand,
                my own,
                a mother's hand, a wife's hand,
                   and in my mind
I still see the drawing there,
a tiny heart that promises we belong . . .
                  Sisters
                  who teased
                  who grieved
                  who tried
                        to laugh,
                        to comfort,
                        and who cried.

  We led each other to a stronger place,
learned to live within God's grace.
        Sisters.
        It didn't happen when we were nine.
        It took a life
                     and love
                              and time.

                               ---Deborah Bedford