I Never Asked

I listened with a closed ear
One foot out the door.

You lived through two world wars
And the sinking of the Titanic.

And I never bothered to ask.

Your beige room drew me away.
I preferred the lobby to you and your stories.

You know, people say I look like you.
I never saw your living beauty.
Only in a picture, over fifty years old.
Where was this taken?
Why?

Grandma,
I feel no regret
for your ninty-three long years.

But I do have a wish,
one humble request.
To have one more opportunity
to ask.