The End of the Family Tree
by Beverlee Pettit
The face in the glass
Belonged to her mother
But the large, round brown eyes
came from grandmother.
The chin tilted up
Full of pride and beauty;
With precious lips to conceal
A perplex of duty.
She gave those eyes to her daughter
In keeping with tradition
To view the future from the past,
lacking repentant conditions.
Grandmother to Mother,
Mother to Daughter,
A connection
of the Circle of Life recast
Giving the best of family fruition
But sadly the world dressed in beauty and sin
Quickly dries the vine of succulent seed
From drugs
and alcohol.
From violence
and abuse.
From hate
and unforgiveness.
From too much
too much …
So ends the line of that family tree
As she lay in the gutter
With her eyes glazed over
The beautiful round, brown eyes,
The eyes
Of her mother's mother
The eyes
Of her Grandmother.
volume 12(6)
March 15, 2008
This poem is copyright © 2008,
Beverlee Pettit, all rights reserved.
Find more poems by Beverlee Pettit.
The Web Projects of Sondra Ball and Mario Cavallini
