Descendants

What do I want to have left behind after my soul has flitted out of this world?

What mark will be stamped by my act of living so my children and their children and their children after can be proud of their DNA?

It’s strange to imagine they would want to know my name and look at pictures revealing time and how things have changed

“What was it like to live all the way back then?”

they wondered without worry of yesterday.

Would they wish to know better, the sound of my voice?

Would they wonder about my thoughts and every minute choice,

the way I worried as I made each decision, all the while ruminating, on the impact this could have tomorrow?

Would they wonder what genes were coded just the same as mine

and what mannerisms they inherited and how their parents decided on their name?

“How’d you decide, mother, on what to call me, when so many people influence who I can be?”

Will they wish for the ability to have just one conversation when they’re at the age of becoming all that is meant for them,

to share stories and opinions because they heard I’m just like them and what would they say to me?

I often wish for one more moment with my maternal grandfather,

who liked to sit and wonder and think and ponder

on all things in life in the quiet of his chair, surrounded by nature and books and loving family.

He passed when I was six and didn’t understand death,

only 77 years, having savoured each breath,

he let go when he wanted, bidding loving goodbyes to a life well-lived and well-loved.

I wonder so often what I would say to him now and if he would look at me and be proud.

"Mom says I’m just like you and I want to know, as you do, about the universe and all its multitudes."

Will I have a granddaughter who thinks just like me?

Will we talk long talks while she finds who she can be?

Will I leave my mark on the hearts of those who simply find they are living generations after me?

I am proud of my descendants, though, as of now, I have none.

I will look down from heaven and feel like I’ve won

the victory of a lifetime for people I can call mine

living well on a planet I had to leave.

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