Wednesday, May 6, 2015

LEGACY

For Jane, Sadie, Nettie, Rosie, and Bridgie; 
for Greta, Agnes, Anna, Betty, Bridget, Mary, & Marie,
for Liz, and, always, for Mary Jane. 
With love and gratitude.




All the women who have a piece in me are gone.
Bones and teeth,
Ash and dust,
Scattered remains.

They bequeathed their strength,
And I rise on their bent backs.

    Mind set on their course,
        Mindful that I will never know
their poverty
their pain
their oppression
their opportunity denied.

My fingers never broken by sweatshop machines.
My heart never bound by conventions and prejudice.
My mind never confined by misogyny.

Shaped by strength, they stomped the Earth.
Titans
                  (I imagine the worlds they would run
                  With just a tiny piece of my privilege.)

All the women who have a piece in me are gone.
                                    Bones and teeth,
                                    Ash and dust,
                                    Scattered remains.

They shove me forward and scream my name.
Rest in peace, my beloved Titans.
I remember your names.
I remember your pain.
I will never forget.            
I remain,
 filled with the pieces of you,
until I am legacy, too.


--Sheila Sweeny Higginson