(for Rebecca)

You know, it occurs to me
that I haven’t said to you,
dear niece,

how sorry I am for the passage
of your dear mama from life
into mystery,

feeling my own sorrow
swirled with gratitude for
the way she embraced me

as she embraced so many
others, her kind heart a
chip off your big-hearted,

tiny grandma, also DNA-linked
to your uncle, my squeeze.
But I am. I’m so sorry

that you’re paying this
huge price for deep love,
but so glad you got,

truly, one of the best
mothers I’ve ever seen.
You carry your foremothers’

big-hearted-ness, too,
you know, though you
will deny this,

just as your mother did.
But I know with my own
thankful heart what a

blessing it was to walk
into your mother’s house,
see her delighted look

as though the person
before her was exactly
whom she wanted to see.

Like you, her beloved
daughter, the one
she cherished every

day of your life,
you, the R. all of us
so treasure.