Sharon Lopez Mooney

 

 

 

I am our family elder

 

She wants me to give her
what she chose to not have

She asks again, give me progeny,
give me our myths
our history and missing information

She wants me to pull stories
from our family cloud
hanging humid with secrets
questionable lies never spoken of

She hungers for me to conjure
tales she can propagate
like the children she never wanted

She calls again, asks again
for mysteries of our single uncle,
I tell her every drop I can remember

She imagines family legends will care
for her in years ahead as a caring daughter
or dutiful twin boys she might have had

But the stories turn to dust in the air
between us, I cannot weave a story
where she will not be old and alone

 

 

 

Sharon Lopez Mooney, poet, retired Interfaith Chaplain, lives in Mexico. She received an CAC Grant for rural poetry series; co-published an arts journal; produced poetry readings. Her poems are published in many journals and anthologies including: The MacGuffin, The Ricochet Review International Adelaide Magazine, etc. More of her work is at: www.sharonlopezmooney.com