Call Me Old-Fashioned

I watched my grandmother’s world crumble and fall
As I grew older and lighter and tall
Her face faded with wisdom and rhyme
Erased with the deadly spines of time.

And here am I;
Not a farm girl
The oldest of but four.
I carry the remnants of her with me:
The desire for hard work and strong family.
The faith in God, the love for life
A daily toil, a surmounted strife.

And while the old-fashioned family burns
I wonder what lessons this generation learns
From MTV and the internet
From barbies and legos and gigapets.
Are we happy or not?
I couldn’t really say
But I mourned the day Grandmother passed away.

Dominoes

When I wake up, I am not the same.
My body is aged one day older
Another domino lined up against me
Stacked for the end
But what form will your end take?
It all adds up to a few seconds
Diamond, zig-zag, circle…
I really couldn’t tell you what it looks like
Til it’s done
But I can promise that each tile that passes through my fingers
And each one that stands is grace-full;
It’s the precipitous edge between insane and miraculous.
One more tile
Standing
So I smile.