In Her Eyes

My grandmother

so hunched so low

but her eyes could see

and her mind could soar

And she stood and strained

at those old forged chains

that were around her neck

before the day she was born

And she stood as tall as she could

and she dreamed she could see

through the darkness beyond the rule of man

to the sky up above

And my mother came along

and she saw my grandmother’s gray-blue eyes

looking up looking up looking up

and try as she might

my mother could not see

the dream of the sky in my grandmother’s straining eyes

And so my grandmother beckoned

and my mother climbed up

and on grandmother’s shoulders she stood

She reached out for the dream

but it was still so dark

and in her nose the smell of earth

could be tasted

and in her mind

the dream in grandmother’s eyes

appeared like a soft wind

with the hint of something precious

with a hint of something never promised

And my mother brought me into the world

and she knew the dream

could not be seen while simply standing

in the shadows below

so she reached her strong calloused hands

down and helped raise me up

and showed me how to climb

and how to speak

how to say “no” in a loud clear voice

how to demand what is mine

and what is right

how to keep dreaming

and reaching to make the dream come true

And how to be patient

and when to discard patience

and how to be ready to raise

my one-day daughter

and place her on my own shoulders

and maybe just maybe

Because right now my face is in the musty dirt

and I can see the roots

of trees and I can almost taste

the water coming down

and I can hear the wind

calling the names of my sisters

And so yes maybe just maybe

if my daughter can stand on my

broad shoulders

maybe just maybe

she’ll be walking on

the same and solid ground

and maybe just maybe

the never promised will be taken

and made true