Cut Thrice

Three times I have watched
the queen palm trees
on the estate on the hilltop
trimmed into tiny tufts
atop slender reeds
to slight
for jeweled crowns
and I cannot recall
how long I have lived
in this same spot
where rings are added
and removed.



Photo by Dozen monkeii, 'Barcelon Palm Trees' taken 1/2016 in Public Domain.

A handle on things

Of course her hands would eventually

Change, I accept the adaptation

And know I must let go of the little one.

Trading the paper and the pencil, manual

We labor, we trade and I watch

The same ring on me, though this one

Is rose gold-

And I cannot demagnetize my eyes or

tear them away from her new woman hands.

It is

The way she holds the pencil

The way she hovers over the white page

The way she hopes it will be good

I am confident

She is in good hands. 


Painting by Marie Bashkirtseff (1881) in [Public domain, Public domain or CC0], via Wikimedia Commons.