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Board Administrator Username: mjm Post Number: 4546 Registered: 11-1998 |
Honorable Mention The Gift of the Tortoise Lisa Janice Cohen I In Africa the tortoise is the keeper of wisdom. She retells, remembers births, deaths, sings the stars to sleep, greets the morning sun. Her shell is etched, marked by time. II My grandmother is not smooth like ancient shell: Weathered, her face wears a patina of worn leather, rich, comfortable. She rests a sparrow's hand lightly on my head. The power of her blessing flows through me. III Eric was born in her ninth decade. Ten years for each month he swam within me. The tortoise and the guppy. Each glides through different currents of a single river. IV She moves ponderously under the obligation of memory. She grants the gift of the tortoise freely to all who ask. |
