Photo by Kim Nelson
Look upon the pleated, ne’er depleted, green fan palm.
Consider this:
It never gives a thought
To folds or wrinkles,
Dusts of gray.
It always heeds to breezes
Throws it’s arms back
Starts to sway.
I’m thinking we have a lot to learn.
Next?
Ponder the fern…
Is it your goal to make amends
Rewrite the past
Or just pretend
That none of it ever happened?
…
I’ ve made my peace
Learned to release
Will you confront or just appease
The dark dog gnawing at your soul?
You’re its master. You’re in control.
It’s time
Take responsibility
For what you’ve grown to be
…
Hurry!
Time could run out
Let’s face it…
I’m not getting any younger… and neither are you.
A palm tree trunk
An elephant’s leg
The skin of a very old woman
Nature is frugal
Patterns repeat
And repeat
…
..
.
I peer into the looking glass
And know the image I see
The face comes forward from my past
It’s you, ~ Gram, Mom ~ and me!
~
At fifty-one, my precious gram
Held the spunky, 2-year me
At that same age my mother
Was grandmother to my three.
~
The stages passed in but a blink
Some energizing, some wearying
The roles assigned shifted, changed, redefined
The times thrilling and new, never dreary.
~
So today the woman glancing back
Has raised her sweet family
She’s ages old and quite content
She’s a Gram, she’s a mom, she’s me.
~
Wonder what my daughters will see
When they glance toward the glass
In a decade or three.
Will it be me? We? She? All three?
These days
‡
Should you manage
To conjure ‘nough courage
To forbid what’s rightfully mine
†
You’d see
‡
I’ve grown, matured
Overcome and endured
Blessed by love, education and time
†
So don’t make me brandish my weapons
Old foe
You will not survive
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