To Virginia

I lost you once,

and I lost you twice, then

I lost you thrice

stolen in secrecy

a decade before

you would weep

your thief

dead

before discovery

unaware

you were gone

you were

resurrected

snatched away violently

weeks before

you were legal

thieves

abscond

into dark anonymity

your absence

denied

you were

resurrected

given

instantly

to the first bidder

the recipient

not fit for

your worth

your absence

acknowledged

your were

not resurrected

like the son

you were

sacrificed

for the sins

of the mother’s drunken father

of the two drunken men in the red truck

of the

hopeless

drunken

girl

I lost you once,

and I lost you twice, then

I lost you thrice.