Evolution

The generational journeys we take

Maybe your ancestors survived

on the hope

that you might thrive.

They prepared the soil

for you to arrive.

Maybe our grandmothers broke

cycles we will never understand.

They protected the bud

so it can bloom in our hands.

Hanging from your family tree

are the names of women

I will never know.

Even so,

I live in their afterglow.

The seed that grew into you

grew inside your mother

while she grew inside her mother.

So yes,

the pain passes

from womb to womb.

But so does the love

so does the courage

so do the stories.

Maybe what looks to me

like not enough

took everything she had.

This story

will continue

on and on

long after I’m gone.

One day, she might

read my chapter.

It might look to her

like not enough

but it took everything I had.

Did you know?

Your great great great grandmother

cries (tears of joy)

every time you

walk farther

sing louder

live freer

than she had the chance to.