Inheritance

The malleable, enthusiastically excitable
questing mind of youth inspires in us
memories of our own search to
understand the world and our obligatory
and emotional relations to be tentatively
established, then confidently pursued in
search of our as-yet-imagined destiny.

Let us speak here of the hallowed tradition
of grandmothers throughout the ages
on every Continent, lighting the ember
to spark the fire of her grandchild's life
aspirations toward realization; gently,
persuasively, herself fading with the years.

Introducing the child to her own circle of
infallible advisers; the gentle muse of
learning, and the sweet one of compassion;
the stern muse of self-discipline; the giddy
one of happiness and joy; equipping the
child with the wisdom of discernment.

When the child, matured, recalls her
grandmother's faded eyes, deep with
memory of her own discoveries through
a living, inherited thread of silken,
cherished care, the long continuum of
enlightenment and ambitions realized,
sorrow and loss unfolds as it must.