watchful

over decades, i’ve watched with quiet awe

 the family tradition of caring for our children

in gatherings by each child being watched over

by a specific adult, who interferes as little

as possible, only slipping in to teach

by pointing out or to rescue from a danger

the child did not comprehend

when other duties intervened, that adult

passed on the responsibility to another who agreed

all this nurturing happened in the background

i’ve watched the toddlers grow to understand

bit by bit and youth take on, with quiet pride,

the responsibility for teaching and protecting

the ones younger than they

the watching has been my incredible privilege

no thank you

i can never figure out how to say with little cartoon critter emojis that i am sad for the extended sickness within our leaders, and us, that i am also ANGRY that we seem willing to take that abuse as though we deserved it - WE DO NOT deserve to be abused. No one does.

not without sin

a sin to throw away anything

that might still have usefulness

child that i am of parents

who started married life together

early in the Great Depression 

Mom left cupboard after cupboard

of washed, capped jars as i have one such low kitchen cabinet stocked

with glass containers ready 

for second, third or tenth use

magazine envelopes yield large scraps

of paper for shopping lists or cut down

to 3 x 5 for index cards

rubber bands securing asparagus

are wound around a plastic tube on

my desk, some waiting their next duty

until old age robs them of elasticity so

they quietly snap at touch lying

in useless line where their lifework had been the ability to encircle and hold

together as mine was to continue

saving and building until i, too

lie down, unable any longer

to gather scraps or to mend the broken bits the world has handed me

or to enfold and protect those i love

until they can grow and flourish

generous spirit

her generosity of soul giving again and again

where those who receive think not of returning

or even of carrying their own weight

how do i protect her?

or would i be interfering?