She wears polka dot shoes
with heels
I gave her
though not yet five
and far away
she follows me
my shadow
belated child
of my child’s child.

She wears a cowboy hat
with heels
I gave her
she said, “I love God
and Grandma Frances Jackets.”
laughing hard
until I cried
overcome by a great sadness
and a greater joy.

She wore my heart
the one
I gave her
life pushes me toward eternity
what use am I come late?
this wee soul
whose not yet five
my shadow, throwing strings of love
around me
imprisonment I did not intend.

She wears a head lamp
on her head
I gave her
curling her tiny toes
on sweetest bruised brown legs
might she recall
when she is grown – or old
her hand in mine?

will she recall
exquisite love through
all the years and know
that she could never fail
for long…or be less, or lost
without being found?

That through all her living
her gifts
God gave her
like jewels, blaze forth
to light the way
with light that’s never spent.
Grandma Frances Jackson, 2012

Frances Jackson- Patrick is a member of Benicia’s First Tuesday Poetry Group

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