“Three Generations” by Jennifer Vasquez
parents gave me life
a wife gave me manhood
children gave me wisdom
(originally posted December 2013)
Parents
All posts tagged Parents
“In the Crowd” by Paulette Van Roekens
my parents lived the American Century
no time since the Renaissance so rich
with change full of progress and perils
America’s role in a cold unpredictable
world teemed with triumph and tragedy
stretched to the limits of human experience
far and beyond what their minds could imagine
they watched the repeated remaking
of all that composes the human condition
its gorgeous new virtuous waves of nobility
cresting a tidal implausible sequence with
grotesque new depths of an utter depravity
rising and troughing then rising and troughing
each phase reaching ever historical levels
agog and bewildered they nonetheless witnessed
the shadow of Wright Model B muslin wings
and the star-blink of Space Station Alpha
pushed and pulled they endured sounds
of battlefield agonies raised to the skies
above forests of green Argonne trees and bleak
alleyways twisting with intrigues of Kandahar
eager participants they fast became part of a
cultural prominence justly well storied and gloried
but not one to last and I thank divine time
that its wretched demise missed their eyes for they
so loved this home of their children the country
who nurtured the immigrant dreams that
sustained their proud peasant Italian-born hearts
(originally posted January 2014)
“Yellow and Blue” by Alma Thomas
mama’s handiwork
never embarrassed
his boyhood
the lads could be cruel
making fun of his
hand-me-downs
pointing and sneering
the schoolyard a crucible
molding his pride
annealing his spine
here he learned
how to fight
held his own against
even the best of them
knowing what they
never needed to know
that his papa
exemplar of dignified man
he wore mama’s fine
lovingly sewn patches too
From my book Onionskin
“Family at the Beach”
Painting by Elizabeth Blaylock
From elizabethblaylock.blogspot.com
we made six halves
three new wholes
birthright powers
and passionate traits
two bold cultures
gave sumptuous arc
to the edges of Europe
her eastern and
southernmost reaches
come finely aligned
find their futures
emphatic Americans
taking their place
in a turbulent history
still in the writing
two daughters
one son share a
sibling nobility each
with deep well defined
character each a
contributor giving the
lie to gen x sociology
standing their opulent
ancestries proud
“Family Reunion” Lithograph by Roger Medearis From americanart.si.edu
the idea of the ideal
defeats distance
confers a proximity
horizon encircles
our everything
everywhere close
within reach
touchable worlds
the each of us make
green as summer
alive with affection
that breathes forth
like breezes refreshing
warm wide open spaces
unbounded metonymy
limning the landscape
that decorates
depths of the heart
flesh blood and eidola
gather and flourish
exchanging their
discontinuities
journeying out of
their solitaires
mocking the putative
powers of mere
separation with
vigorous bear hugs
we personal pioneers
chance rediscovery
seeking and finding
the old stirring scenes
the exciting old passages
brought fresh and new
into light of this
uncommon season
it doesn’t get better
than fathers and mothers
and daughters and sons
on their mountain
so strong and so thoughtful
it lifts all their memories
into the present
reunified families
four generations
of birth life and death
tolled in trials and triumphs
rewashed in the bath
of a blue sweeping sky
given fragrant caress
by a radiant tendermost
ancestral sun
once again
again once
when the once
is enough
for forever
Poesy plus Polemics 