On Lineage

 

 

On Lineage

 

 

I’ve never met my grandmother. She exists

in tall tales and stories to shiver your bones.

The last time my mother saw her,

 

she chased her out of the house

with a knife she was using to chop onions,

the sour smell infecting my mother’s eyes.

 

They welled with tears amidst all those

quick movements and heightened senses

necessary to evade cold violence.

 

My mother sprinted out of the house and

never returned. Now

 

My grandmother resides in a facility

situated on the side of a mountain

in Puerto Rico, confined to a wheelchair,

prisoner of her own mind.

 

She’ll never again realize that today is today.

 

I’ve never met her but,

when I do–because life has that sort of funny inevitability,

I wonder

 

if the chilling history

will provide context for the ghost

of a grandmother. Or will she be

 

just another human, dragging her pain behind her,

like chains scratching against concrete, until

they’re nothing but brambles made of rust.

 

  

Nicole Bird 

 

Nicole's career began with a degree in Creative Writing. Her focus then shifted to garnering degrees in Film Production and Screenwriting. Afterwards, Nicole worked in film, while writing and producing her own short films. Now, Nicole works as a Creative Writing professor and is currently at work on a collection of poetry, as well as honing her gluten free baking skills developed during the 2020 quarantine.