from the green genetic swamp
and the gooey emotional morass
of her people
she created herself
a stalwart, a steward
a woman admired
a matriarch.

she was
the family's first
graduate from college
the woman
who
drove herself into
rural regions colored with poverty

who
taught their hands
to knit and nurture dignity
into their hearts

who
gathered those
simple poor souls
into their kitchens
and taught them
to multiply
protein and carbohydrate
and pennies
and patience
and power
from the nothingness
of their quarter
from the wealth
of their kith and kin

she was
a force of community
a church leader
a creative bastion

she was all of these
but, for this child

she was the one
who
arose before dawn on cold Christmas mornings
to light heaters
and start the turkey
while Santa did his glorious work

it was she
who
awakened us with the aroma
of bacon and eggs
café au lait and biscuits

it was she
who
commanded us
to fetch figs from the tree just off the porch
to peel the pears
and stir the preserves

it was she
who
taught us
the right browness and consistency of roux

it was she
who
made room
for my childhood
who
shed upon me
the particles
of her splendid energy
who germinated my morality
and my belief in myself

from the gathered strands
of her life
that framed our past
the cousins create futures
and knit themselves into
the fabric of humanity

and now
just a short distance
from my birth
again I swim into her waters
touched and transformed

and now
again in her embrace
in the sacred energy
of her presence
I overflow
with gratitude and tears
that in her waning years
I find myself
sewn into the sparkling threads
of her progeny

Copyright © 2001

09/01/2003

Author's Note: I am posting this here now in honor of my Aunt Lucille who died Monday evening, September 1, 2003. She was very special to me and we were close. I wrote this in 2001 and shared it with her and my cousins at the time. Actually, there are a few photos of her and my cousins on my website tocreate.net (Family Album: Relative Observations). The photo of my cousins, Aunt Lucille and Lisa on the back porch was taken at the time I shared the poem with them. The poem was posted first on poesie.com. I just wanted to share it with you, my friends here at pathetic.org.

Posted on 09/02/2003
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