Friday, June 26, 2009

Unbroken


This week's readwritepoem prompt was to think about things we never said to our mothers. I chose to focus instead on my mother's mother.
I want you
to know—
She protected my
memories of you,
let me keep them
She allowed me
to navigate the
solemn truth
that some
of your genes
might live
in me and trend
toward addiction
and the truth
that the almost 6
years of love
you gave me before
you died are as
real as anything
else in your life
or in mine
You would be
proud of her
and I thank
you for
the jagged
but unbroken
line
that runs
between me
and her
and you.


12 comments:

  1. I lost my mother's mother when I was 5. I remember well the grief all her children felt. My 84-year-old aunt told me at Christmas that soon after my grandmother's death, I told both my mom and my aunt not to worry about "buelita" because "God gave her a job, and that was to make sunshine.

    It would appear my aunt kept the jagged, unbroken line. Thank you for another evocative, tender poem, Erin.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Erin,

    Short, succinct and full of love. Really good poem.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Stunning, as always. You never write a bad poem :-).

    ReplyDelete
  4. From one freckled-faced, red-headed poet to another--I really enjoyed this poem. It was very touching and real without being sentimental. Thank you for sharing it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. wow, Erin--this is fantastic. really.

    I love the way it says forgiveness without saying "forgive."

    I want to keep reading it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think your poems are beautiful. very well written! love to read more!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Beautiful, Erin. I relate to this one and appreciate the forgiveness it contains.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Good Typist and Toothfairynotes--welcome! I appreciate your feedback and enjoyed checking out your blogs. And Good Typist, it's a thrill to meet another freckled writer!

    Angie--I had the word "forgive" in there at first, but it seemed too trite. Glad you like it without.

    Lydia--Glad you can relate. This poem, though about my grandmother, is really a tribute to my mom's power of forgiveness.

    ds and Annie--Thanks for the kind words!

    Kathleen--glad this spoke to you.

    Derrick--My first drafts of this were much longer. Glad you like this pared-down version.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love the way you discuss generations and lineage in this piece :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. You captured very well how we carry those we love long after they are gone.
    Very nicely done!

    `x~William.

    ReplyDelete