Family Ties by R. Martin Basden

Give me back the memory never earned
of times before I knew myself
and counted on parents
to tote my share
of family history
while I in careless play
from lazy morn to failing light
gave no thought to those when before.
Give me back such squandered days
of times when I only knew myself
so swollen by my self esteem
that all the universe
took pulse
or so it seemed
from this sole strapping soul
who took no breathe for those whose breath was short
Give me back the stories told
of kin whose deeds were lost on me
as I listened but did not hear
and now can only grasp a vague sense
of who they were or how their lives
touched mine
as I busied myself through decades
and only stood the ceremony of dust to dust impatiently
Give me back the whole of life
for now I tire of me
and find how valuable the thread
that stitches patchwork lives into family quilts
now in my hand
and every tattered fiber I reclaim waits
the gathering which is my privilege to host
the honor of those gone to those coming

Bio: R. Martin Basden is a native of Norfolk, married to his high school sweetheart, Kay, has two children and five grandchildren. A graduate of Va Tech, he is retired from engineering and helps Kay with her real estate business. A life-long singer and gardener, past soccer coach, he is active in church and civic organizations, and in several writers' groups. He writes poetry, prose, narratives, memoirs, and short stories. Marty, writes fiction and non-fiction, occasionally stirring them to obtain hybrid perspectives. He has been published in The Tidewater Review, Carvings in Stone, and The Al bright Poets Anthology. EMAIL: k2mmarty@aol.com