Happy Poetry Friday! Its the weekend y'all and we made it all the way across the line. Having a little Flashback Friday moment tonight, not enough inspiration or time tonight to pen a poem of my own and so, I'm sharing a great one by Jacqueline Woodson about family.
I feel increasingly connected to mine as I age, as my boys grow bigger and form their own connections, as I research my family tree, consider my genetic testing I got for Christmas this year and soak into my new life so very far across the country. I'm lucky, I have a wonky, bumpy, lovely family full of grit and jokes, woodsmoke, doubt and other delicious things. They are wonderful people all of them and I am working on sorting out who I am in relation to them and who I am not in relation to them, but no matter who I turn out to be, I know I will belong. I am part of these crazy people and they are part of me. Its a strong thing to feel that internal wire, stringing you all together irreversibly. May the cable never sever.
Here's my contribution to Poetry Friday this week. Enjoy.
Catch the rest of the submissions this week at The Miss Rhumphius Effect, click over and have a marinade.
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| My parents and I and my first baby sister Jen, sometime in 1984. |
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| My parents and I, December 2015. |
Here's my contribution to Poetry Friday this week. Enjoy.
genetics
My mother has a gap between
her two front teeth. So does Daddy Gunnar.
Each child in this family has the same space
connecting us.
Our baby brother, Roman, was born pale as dust.
His soft brown curls and eyelashes stop
people on the street.
Whose angel child is this? they want to know.
When I say, My brother, the people
wear doubt
thick as a cape
until we smile
and the cape falls.
Catch the rest of the submissions this week at The Miss Rhumphius Effect, click over and have a marinade.
What a lovely poem and post. That web of family connectedness is so special isn't it? I often think that as well as keeping house, as vintage housekeepers one of our most special duties is keeping that feeling of family, and curating our memories, as well as creating them!
ReplyDeleteThat is a really warm and momentous job. I never thought about that as part of the job...but I think that's super touching and true. Inspired.
DeleteHave you read Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming yet? So beautiful. Thank you for sharing the gift of family this week for Poetry Friday.
ReplyDeleteMyra....I haven't read it yet....I sure want to though! Must add it to my library list.
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