They Dance Away

And grow like weeds toward the sky

The girls drift like the last sunshine crawling across the grassy yard Disappearing behind the trees A line shifting with time

They’ve grown, they grow more I see them next and they are taller Changed, evolved

Once a bag of dress-up clothes was enough Now Taylor Swift and Avatar conscript their minds

They retreat to another room Make necklaces of beads they painted Talk about school and dreams and tell stories not for adult consumption

Like the long fronds of grass at the end of the lawn They wave and bend Drifting in and out of sight

They are no longer drawn like moths to a flame To me, to my lap or my transient visits I’m not carrying them forward or holding their hands

Across the house I watch As their bodies sway to their own music To the days and weeks of their lives that pass more and more quickly

It’s an ache of life that surrounds me Like the arthritis that pains Watching these grandchildren grow

Like weeds, they stretch up these descendants, who come behind One red-haired, curly, pink-cheeked The other dusky, arrow-straight, blue-eyed

Both creative One daring, both caring Dreaming, scheming

Who knows where they go These blossoms of spring Turning into what they will become

Framed by the walls and shape of their home By the parents who adore and pour Love, kindness and compassion

And I will be an observer and love too Until the day that I am no longer But for now, I am still here

The gift that our descendants bring is that of the journey that continues When those who are part of us find their way into the world

Wherever that might be