Legacy

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On the short page of my known history
I am the bottom line
Two ordinary women precede me
One lived a rich life . . .
a paragraph for her in this synopsis!
The other hardly learned to live at all
We’ll give her honorable mention

The rich one dealt in gratitude

 “Thank God for chicken soup and barley”
“Thank God for penicillin,” when it came
“Thank God for God”

 The other one lamented

 “Why me?”

Down, down came the words
from one
to the other
to where I waited

I have two sons
They are descended from a race of giants
They are larger than me

Larger than anything I have to say
When they speak
I listen
and my words
drop

 

“Legacy” appeared in Three Sisters 1977