On grandparents and greatgrandparents

We were a song, a promise, a gift, and a curse

Grounded as soil, hard as stone, sweet as honeysuckle empty as the void

From mansions, from mountains, from farms, and invasions

Men who are kind, mysterious, handsome, and poisonous

Women with pecans, and secrets, and love, nothing at all

Three                    Six                          Eight `                    and One

For our love lives, for our livelihood, for loss indescribable, for no reason to think of

We are still here, strange, gentle, and painful

We will linger, return from the dead, suffer quietly, and leave without saying goodbye

Little sisters and best friends

Cinderella and the false prince

A backwards narrative

The solider and James Dean

Pale pink prom dress and Doris Day

Twos and threes

Mistakes

Ones we regret

And ones we forget

All written in skin and bone

Love your sons and daughters