Nonnina She Is

Is it nuance, or is it subtlety of a 
variety too sophisticated for a simple
mind to digest? She is the beloved
family matriarch whom all hold in
deep regard, respecting her every
word, and yet there is a chasm deep
within of progressive resistance
battling it out with a visceral draw
of an ancient antipathy stirred by a
renascent social climate dredging up
closets-full of stealth skeletons that
civility stifles. She birthed no fewer
than six children, the oldest a boy
the rest girls in succeeding years all
when she was young and attractive
priding herself on maternal skills and
doting on them all. All were like
herself fecund resulting in numerous
grandchildren themselves now raising
their own. Her husbands long gone
she is alone while surrounded with
family, sons-in-law not of the faith
yet she, the beloved Jewish bubbe
whom all refer to as 'nonna' though
none among them bear Italian blood.