Whirligig

Perhaps it's true about the circle of life
or maybe the spiral reveals the greater truth
leadng the disciplined eye in
to the center
then back out again
endlessly in and out and in

It's surely the case that yesterday
when I heard my mother sing
swaying and clapping with the gospel choir
I saw her as a beautiful child
and I the mother
come to witness her tender soul
in an older woman's clothing

And the song they sang!
the one she sang when I was young
when she wanted me to be my very best
"This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!"
guiding my youthful spirit
out and in and out again
like a brightly colored whirligig in the wind

As we listened
my children swooned in the summer heat
though for the sake of the story
I see them dancing
while I sit among them like the central pivot
where joy and sorrow are fused
connecting generations
in a perpetual circular swing


for mom
june 2012