through me they live...

i close my eyes and ‘see’ the women of my family’s past...
i let my mind wander along my ancestors’ journeys...
travels that connected one to the other in a long line...
histories...no, 'her' stories that course through my veins, a part of my being,
accessible only through my mind’s imaginings...
spanning the globe, these women bore from their wombs my family’s survival…
so for me, they matter, for without them, i wouldn’t…
i like to think they were strong minded, strong willed, strong...
their beauty not always on the outside but…most often shone out from within…
they had their flaws, yes...
but through their failures came their successes,
they were resilient…
i imagine songs sung to little babies,
coaxing them to sleep...
whispers in the night only for the lover’s ear...
i imagine tears shed over pain overwhelming,
as loss became bitter on the tongue,
a wound in the soul...
i close my eyes and see through their eyes,
gazing out upon their worlds...
their simplicities tied in with their complexities...
these women had dreams, desires, hopes and fears...
they fell apart, they pulled together…
and through me they live,
thru my own daughters four, they live…

dedicated to Sarah, Casie, Jada & Liset
....my own daughters four....